Book One: Dawn of a New Age
by DragonheartODST
Summary: Humanity had been expanding across the stars for over 5 centuries in relative peace. But an alien alliance known as the Covenant wishes to destroy humanity entirely. Now threatened with extinction, can the fate of just one battle-scared survivor change the events of the war and those participating in it? Multi-crossover with Halo, Mass Effect, and a little bit of StarCraft.
1. Chapter 1: There is no Honor in War

Chapter 1: There is no Honor in War

" **I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity." - Dwight D. Eisenhower**

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 **0500 Hours, February 11, 2537 (Military Calendar) / Fort Dyfed, Outskirts of Gwynedd, Camber, Powys System**

There was nothing but darkness which covered everything in sight. Not the normal darkness brought on by nightfall but something far more oppressive and tangible. Then there was a light in the distance, one that kept growing brighter until the entire world was full of colors. When the brightness settled down, the landscape surrounding him was a mixture of low rocky mountains and scattered valleys covered with various colors like it was currently going through a spring thaw. There was a number of mutilated bodies scattered around and strange alien buildings of various sizes and shapes. He knew what this was because he had seen it before and it still haunted him every time. It was just too realistic.

" **Aaaahhhh. Isn't that a shame. You couldn't do anything to stop the coming destruction."** That terrible voice rang out in a sweet sickly tone.

He couldn't speak. He was never able to speak back against this voice that shifted constantly as if it were numerous people of different ages and sex speaking at once. He could never see the speaker either. It would always be fuzzy, like a dark blurry fog obscured it from sight. But he saw his family and other figures whose shapes he could never make out either, as still as statues. The shadow would move amongst them like some dark spirit and one by one the figures would drop.

" **Certainly couldn't save your father when the Covenant came. Nor your mother. Or your sister for that matter. What makes you think you can save the friends you made along the way?"**

He hated the voice. He could never argue against it or insult it. His mouth just wouldn't respond. At the same time, it showed him countless sights he couldn't hope to comprehend. Towers of shining silver floating above the ground. Metal planets with equally metal creatures and plants. Beings with no mouths that could speak as if they had one. Swords of light cutting down everything in their path. Battles that only grew larger and fiercer in scope. He was getting a headache as is something inside him would explode.

" **Even if you somehow save them, they will all die in the end or leave you to your fate. And it will be all your fault."** Then the images would all get jumbled up even more than usual. Species and worlds he had never seen. Technologies that didn't possibly exist. The entire galaxy spinning above his head or under his feet. The images only got more confusing and horrifying while the background voices suddenly rose in volume.

"We don't leave teammates behind."

"Don't you dare judge me!"

"The most damaged people are the wisest."

"Enough."

"The success or failure of your deeds does not add up to the sum of your life."

"It doesn't matter what they made you into."

"The saddest people smile the brightest."

"Enough!"

"Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing."

"Please don't leave like this! Don't say goodbye!"

"The loneliest people are the kindest."

"I SAID ENOUGH!"

…

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"NO!" The soldier screamed out, his arm reaching forward as if to grab someone. He sat there sweating in terror as the nightmare faded away. Looking around and lowering his arm, he realized that he had just been dreaming. Groaning as exhaustion set in, he laid back on his bed, head in the pillows as he now considered that he should see a psychologist. It had been two years since Jericho VII and he even though he couldn't remember the dream now, he knew it could cause problems. He looked at the watch on his arm and it read 5:00 am. He read it again to make sure his eyes didn't deceive him and then dropped his arm in exasperation.

"Fuck you Universe."

Deciding then that he wouldn't be able to get to sleep and he only had about an hour or two before everyone would wake up, he would figure out his problems by beating them out on some innocent punching bag or weight equipment in the gym. He silently got out of his bed, gathered his things and headed out to the gym. By the time he got there however, he found the room locked. He was going to stew a little at the fact when he got the brilliant idea to break in. He got down by the lock and proceeded to play with the buttons and wires of the pad before the light turned green and the doors opened without any problems.

"Hmmm? It took 15 seconds to break in and I didn't set off the alarm. That's either a new record or the engineers are really bad at the their jobs trying to fix stuff like this? Really thought they would have learned after the last time I had to get in the hard way."

Chuckling at the memory of trying to get in and "accidently" setting the alarm off, the soldier got into the room and proceeded to use the weights first to strengthen himself. He started slowly at first, going from 100 pounds and adding 10 every 50 reps. As he went through the routine he did whenever he was free, he thought back on the dream. It was one of those odd dreams where one could make out the general feelings about it but couldn't make out the details save for perhaps a few noticeable or important things. A shrink would probably say that the dream would be a sign of the war's effect on his mind, something that occurred to every soldier in some form or another like post-traumatic stress syndrome or something like that.

' _The war.'_ His mind instantly grabbed onto the subject that was more real than any stupid nightmare.

The Human-Covenant War, as it was being called, had been going on for about 12 years now. The Covenant, as far as the UNSC was able to tell, was a theocratic empire composed of several different races known to the soldiers on ground by the monikers named for them. Grunts, Jackals, Drones, Elites, and Brutes were what they were called, and their beef with humanity was apparently because they believed their inconsiderate assholes they called leaders and gods desired it or some such reason. He had already seen what they were capable of, had seen his home destroyed. His family had been heavily affected by the war. His mother was a naval officer on ship floating around Reach at the moment. His family was gone, father and mother dead 6 years into the war. His sister was not exactly dead but instead was MIA. She had been declared dead 3 years ago but even before then he had already accepted the high probability that they were gone before it was announced. Just another thing to blame the Covenant for on top of the billions dead by their hands and the number of planets they glassed.

As he continued with his reps he didn't notice a shadow moving toward him from the main door. However, he heard something that broke his train of thought and almost jumped at the first sign. Bad idea as he was now holding around 250 pounds in both his hands and the sudden movement now caused the unsecured bar to drop to his chest. Now struggling a little to take the bar off, he was pleasantly relieved when a pair of hands grabbed the bar as well and helped pull it up. The two pairs of hands were then able to set the bar and weights back on the equipment. Once that was done and he was out of danger he sat up and looked behind him to see who saved him from choking to death.

"You really should learn to pay more attention to your surroundings Nicky." The stranger said with a hint of amusement. The soldier, Nick, recognized the brown haired head, the smiling face with 5 o'clock shadow, and the twinkling blue eyes focused on him.

"And you should know better than to spook a person whose carrying heavy equipment Dick. Do you want an accident to happen?" Nick scolded.

"Oh you know me. Can't help it if people don't have a proper sense of humor."

"Tell that to the pilot of that pelican who lost her nerve flying because of you Dick." Nick groaned out as he stretched his limbs from the workout.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Rick. Hell, even calling me Rickard would work better?"

"About as many times as it takes you to learn to grow out of your habit of pranking people whenever it suits you to. Didn't the instructors ever beat it out of you in boot camp or something?"

"Hey don't be a hater. Yeah I'm a little bit of a prankster…" Rickard admitted.

"A bit!" Nick scoffed.

"Shut up. Okay yes I'm more of a prankster then the usual marine but can you seriously blame me. All the recruits get so down in the dumps in their free time that we all might as well hand ourselves over to the Covenant and say, please kill us quickly so we can be done with it all." Rickard joked.

"So your excuse is that you're keeping morale up?" Nick questioned.

"Exactly." Was Rickard's answer.

"Then that whole, putting itching powder in our commander's armor as well as every other officer in the battalion was what?" Nicholas eyebrows rose up.

"The guys were jackasses or sadists with sticks up their assess. They deserved it for the hell they put us through and it made everyone laugh their own asses off. Don't get me wrong, when the Covenant come here, I'll obey orders and fight to the end but what other stuff can we do here on this rock other than train for combat which we may never get to see?"

"I now got an explanation for the incident as well as the culprit." A voice called out. Both Nicholas and Rickard turned toward the voice and saw their platoon commander moving towards them. "The reason why we train you as hard as we do, is because one day soon, you will see live combat and with your current attitude you will most likely die unless you get it into your head to stop screwing with everyone like an idiot."

"He – Hey officer!" Rickard stuttered at being caught, "What are you doing up?"

"Stow it private! You have two choices now. You can go into the men's restrooms and clean the toilets with your toothbrush for that incident as one punishment."

"What's the second option, sir?" Rickard hesitated.

"Demotion to recruit and redoing basic training for both marines and ODSTs all month."

"Toilets it is sir. I'll get to that." And Rickard ran off without further warnings while Nick smirked silently at the sight.

' _And he wonders why he hasn't gotten up to Corporal yet.'_ Was his somewhat traitorous thought before the officer turned toward him and the smirk disappeared from his face instantly.

"Lance Corporal Nicholas Shepard."

"Yes sir."

"Did you hack your way into the room?" the officer questioned, although his tone said that it was more a declaration that would brook no lies.

"Yes sir." Nicholas instantly responded.

"Then fix the damn keypad and get out. I'll probably assign another form of punishment for you later today."

"Yes sir." And just like that Nick gathered his stuff, looked over the keypad, fixed any damages he made as well as a few that were already there, and rushed off to the showers. As the day would start soon and he wanted to get ready for anything that might occur he began to wash up and think about the events that he would most likely get stuck doing. Traffic problems, evacuation orders, recruitment, training, the occasional insurrectionist. Such was the life of the UNSC Marines 3rd Battalion Reserves at Fort Dyfed. Waiting for the day they would be called to the front lines to fight the Covenant menace. Nick understood more than most. He saw the destruction and death the Covenant left in their wake. How much it angered and saddened everyone when another colony was declared to be lost, or another battle was listed as a defeat. He had been to Jericho VII and had seen the plasma bombardment from space as the Covenant took out the last stronghold of the UNSC's in the Outer Colonies back in 2535. Now the Covenant were poised to move into the Inner Colonies, although there had been no sign of them yet. The only battles that had been of note last year had actually been a number of insurrections that occurred on the planet Mamore, the Bonanza Asteroid Belt, and Far-gone colony platforms, all of which was put down by the UNSC after a few months. So where was the Covenant and what were they planning?

By the time he had reached the mental question that had been bugging him, he had already finished cleaning up and came up to a mirror. Looking up he saw a young face, younger than most of the soldiers here on base but old enough certainly for others to tell he wasn't some bright eyed recruit. It was sharp with narrow cheeks that had been freshly shaved combined with a medium sized nose, shining green eyes with hazel flecks that seemed to constantly change to a different shade along with his emotions, some bags underneath that hinted at his previous nightmare only an hour ago, and a full head of dark black hair with natural bright red tips that was cut short in military fashion. It was the picture of a clean, youthful face, one that should not be experiencing warfare, but instead going through college with all its ups and downs. Nick couldn't help it however. He had to help others and thanks to both a growth spurt, an slightly older complexion, and some technical skills with electronics, he had been able to fake his way in at 14 years of age and join the Marines. His mom would have been pissed when she found out but all his family were long since dead and there was no way he could back out once he signed up. Looking up at his 17 year old self, he saw a face that already was gaining a certain type of wear to it. The type of wear only made him look older and more serious than many of the other recruits or lower ranking soldiers below him that came along, much like a certain blue eyed prankster.

"Man that guy can be such a dick!" A voice rang out through the lavatories as Nick pulled away and headed toward his locker.

' _Speak of the Devil and he shall appear.'_ The saying popped up as soon he recognized the voice's owner and off to his right he saw the figure of Rickard get up from the floor with toothbrush in hand.

"You only have yourself to blame. That and your big mouth." Nick supplied which startled Rickard immediately.

He visibly relaxed before replying, "I know but my earlier point still stands."

"Which one? That nobody here has a sense of humor or that the commander of the fort is a dick?" Nick questioned.

"Both."

"Obviously its everyone else who has a problem and not a certain man child that can't keep his hands out of anything and everything."

"Who me? Perish the thought. So what did you get stuck with?"

"Just fixing the keypad that I used to break in. He's going to try to figure out an appropriate punishment for me later." By this point Nick was fully dressed for the day and whatever might be thrown at him. He would just head to the cafeteria for breakfast and later go to the armory for his gear. He was just in time too, looked like the other soldiers were waking up and getting ready for the day as well.

"Well good luck with your punishment, try not to miss breakfast." Nick called back as he left the building and headed over to the mess hall with a slightly evil grin on his face. Walking across the base's grounds, all Nick could think of was that today was going to be one of those normal, repetitive, boring, military days with absolutely nothing exciting to do except train through combat situations like they had for the past year. But unfortunately for him, the Universe would prove him wrong in a seemingly deliberate attempt just to spite him altogether. The first warning sign that something was amiss was the bass alarm system suddenly going off with the speakers blaring for all soldiers to get to the armory and gear up. Nick could only hang his head back in a long suffering sigh as he realized he probably wouldn't get breakfast because of this.

"Ugh. Goddamn timing."

He then dropped all dramatics and raced over to the armory even as Rickard popped out of lavatories and started to run alongside him.

"You know the hell is going on?" Rickard asked seriously, all pretense of the prankster having dropped away.

"Nope." Nick replied instantly. As they entered the armory and began gathering their gear from their lockers, they heard the platoon officer come in.

"Listen up soldiers! I just got word from command. The Covenant have arrived on Camber as of 0300 this morning."

' _3:00 in the morning!'_ Nick's thoughts instantly screamed. _'How did they get the drop on us for three whole hours unless…!'_

Nick looked toward a nearby window that was open. The sky was still dark enough to see stars but the dawn was already coming. But that was not what Nick was looking at. He and every other person in the base and planetary government knew that Camber was protected by an early warning perimeter. Even if the Covenant appeared in the farthest reaches of the system, the early warning would alert the planet and the military would be ready for a fight when they arrived as a result. But it failed so how had they got past in the first place? Nick's eyes only went wide when he realized how it was possible for the Covenant to bypass it.

' _They used their more accurate slipspace drives to jump under the planetary defenses and strike at targets on the ground before a warning could ever get out! The fleet above and the rest of the planet might not even know what's going on! Dammit!'_ Nick gnashed his teeth together even as the officer confirmed his hypothesis.

But that wasn't important now, the warning was already going out now and the rest of the planet was being alerted at least. Now they just had to get ready for the coming battle and at this point everyone was rushing with military precision. Nick was already grabbing his gun and Richard's and moving back just as Richard grabbed his helmet to put it on. But at that moment, some indescribable gut feeling just washed over Nick while he neared his friend. He recognized it as what Rickard jokingly called his "sixth sense" and realized that something bad would happen. Before he could get any warning out however, the walls of the armory exploded inward as a shower of concrete and metal forced many of the soldiers inside back and knocked a few others down to the ground. He had been behind a set of lockers at the moment his senses had gone off and stayed still as the explosion went by him. After a few seconds, the explosion passed and looking out, Nick saw debris scattered across the floor, Rickard down on his back and struggling to get up, plus a giant hole in the wall revealing the outside world. But that wasn't all for outside he could make out the figure of a Covenant ship in the distance looming over the planetary capital of Gwynedd. There was something wrong with the view though, it was slightly distorted as if the dust hadn't fully settled and the light was being reflected. His senses only screamed to stay hidden a while longer and they were soon validated when three Elites, two in blue armor and one in gold, appeared out of thin air wielding plasma rifles.

' _Cloaking!'_ Nick's mind instantly supplied and he realized he would have to be even more careful if he wanted to get out of here. But then he thought of Rickard, still stuck on the ground in front of these aliens.

' _I will not abandon him here!'_ Was is angry reply. He would not leave his comrades like this. For as long as he still lived he would never desert them but depending on what would happen within the next few minutes, he could very well be dead within the hour. Even as his mind tried to hatch a plan to save the downed soldier, he saw the Elites warbling amongst themselves in their strange language, and then discard their rifles. Why? That question was soon answered as the gold Elite proceeded to take out a handle of some sort which then ignite into a blade of pure plasma. The other two Elites proceeded to do the same and the gold Elite then walked over toward Rickard. Somehow, Rickard had been able to gain hold of a pistol amongst the rubble strewn floor and was proceeding to aim it at Goldie (as Nick named him). However before he even had a chance to shoot, Goldie had grabbed Rickard by the neck with one large hand and lifted him up while his plasma sword turned toward the unfortunate man. Time slowed down for Nick as his adrenaline suddenly kicked in overtime and realizing he had only seconds before Rickard was skewered, he through caution to the wind and prayed.

' _Well here goes nothing.'_ Were his last thoughts before turning around the corner, guns ready, and calling out in a loud voice, "Hey split-lip! Drop him!"

The Elite never even had time to look at Nick in surprise before he fired off several rounds at Goldie and his buddies. The Elite instantly dropped Rickard and split off with the other two, their shields protecting them from the bullets fired as all three went invisible. Nick ran over and pulled Richard up, shoving the gun into his hands and pulling at him to get out. They couldn't go out through the giant gaping hole in the wall. That way could just be a trap and Nick had no intentions of dying today. Moving through the hallways made of lockers and looking for the other soldiers scattered around. He saw as men and women alike were butchered by the Elites from the shadows. One unfortunate soldier was panicking, even shooting his gun into the air either in front or above him (Nick couldn't tell for sure) but then doubled over as a pair of glowing blades shanked him from in front. Nick then realized how he could see the bastards.

' _Their cloaks give off a shimmer that can be detected!'_ With a determination now filling his heart, Nick whispered in Rickard's ear, "If you see a shimmer in the air anywhere, shoot it." The two of them now walking/jogging/stumbling toward the nearest exit.

As they neared the doorway though, one shimmer appeared on Nick's left and lunged for him. Both humans were sent tumbling to the floor even as Nick used his gun. The Elite's shields instantly activated as the bullets slammed into him and the cloak dropped as a result. The sudden switch from cloak to shields as well as the bullets must have drained them faster than usual because in a few seconds, Nick essentially was lying on the ground with a dead Elite lying on his stomach. Rickard was the first to get up and both of them shoved the dead alien off. Grabbing their weapons, they burst out of the door and ran into the open space of the fort. It was hell. The three Elites obviously couldn't have been the only ones in the base and in hindsight it was now obvious because the fort had turned into a shooting gallery at this point with a number of soldiers, both armed and not, now fighting with everything they had on hand against a large number of Elites, Jackals, and Grunts. Pulling themselves into a hidden alley for the moment, Nick thought things through. The barracks, vehicle depot, and airpad were all on fire and the sounds of battle were coming from the reactor, field armory and command center. Both instantly knew that Fort Dyfed was lost and they needed to leave now. But there was no way to get out on either foot or vehicle if these areas were in enemy hands and there were bound to be Covenant forces surrounding the base. Nick and Richard were essentially screwed either way.

' _Maybe not.'_ Nick's mind thought up. _'Rickard has been around the base longer than you. He might know another way out like the sewers or something.'_

"Rick," Nick instantly whispered with a slight hope, "do you know of any other location on base that we might be able to escape from?"

"N…no. Well maybe but it's a longshot." Rickard replied in a loud whisper. "The supply pads that provide for the base. It's possible that their might be some Darter dropships still on them. Other than that there is no other way out."

"But, neither of us can fly a dropship though."

"I can." Rickard said with confidence.

"Good enough." Nick finished but Rickard only grabbed his shoulder to halt him.

"There is a problem though. We would still have to pass the barracks to get to the nearest one and there sounds like a battle going on there." He pointed out.

"Doesn't matter. We stay here, we're dead. If we try to get out on foot, we're dead. Getting a vehicle from the depot or airpad is too risky since it's on the other side of the base so we have to get to the supply pads. We might have a chance with them unless, you know of any other way out."

"Fine. Supply pads it is. Let's get moving before we get spotted."

With their decision now made, the two men moved quickly. The battle was most focused around the command center at this point but there was still firefights going on in the surrounding areas, mainly in the streets. Even as the two moved into the barracks, Nick knew in his gut that they made a mistake. The building was quiet. Too quiet for him to not become more paranoid than usual considering the circumstances.

' _Great. It's would just be our luck to end up in the only building on a battlefield that we have to pass through and it has to fit the cliché of "IT'S A TRAP!" or some other crap.'_ Nick's thought. No matter what though, a potential ambush was still better than the deathtrap the base outside had become. At least they would be a little more hidden from enemy forces.

Still as the two men now moved through the dark halls and rooms of the seemingly empty barracks with their guns ready and pointed down the hallways, Nick couldn't help but focus on his sixth sense/gut feelings and looked around. It was during times like this that he was glad for this ability of his which always made him realize when he was in danger. Once when he had been younger, a school bully had intentionally chucked a small rock at the back of his head. Not only had he dodged it, he had caught it with his hand as soon as it passed his head, something that both surprised him and his bully. The fistfight that occurred afterwards and any events after that where it had alerted him had essentially proved how useful it had become. And it was now suddenly screaming at him to duck.

"Nick get down!" He heard Rickard scream before he dropped to his knees and rolled out of the way. Rising up from his crouching position and turning around he saw what both his gut and Richard warned him about. The gold armored Elite from earlier, who must have been cloaked and following them since, had apparently swung his plasma sword right where Nick's head had been and had embedded itself into the wall as a result of the dodge. Both soldiers had proceeded to open fire but this Elite must of switched to his shields earlier than the first or just had stronger shields in general and as a result was harder to take down. The Elite simply removed his sword from the wall and began to race toward the two men. Both soldiers began running away as fast as they could to while firing blindly at the charging Elite behind them as well as knocking over any obstacles to slow the Elite down. As the running firefight continued Nick had turned to look ahead and his gut once again warned him about an open doorway on his right. He instantly began shooting into the doorway and was rewarded with the glow of a second Elite's plasma shields which had been drained by the cloak and now dropped completely. The hiding Elite was killed with a bullet to the brain and the duo ran past his falling body and toward the nearest exit. As the exit sign appeared at the end, the two realized that Goldie was gaining on them so they placed their guns in their holds, pulled out their grenades and began throwing them behind their backs as they made the last dash to safety.

They were either real lucky or Goldie must have been more slow in his response because the first few that were thrown his way had bounced off the walls or floor behind the Elite but as they had neared the last intersection, one grenade had bounced off of Goldie's head. Neither men saw the end result as the grenades went off one by one behind them and they burst out of the exit in front. They were soon followed by a loud boom and some shrapnel plus smoke but by then the two had safely made it out of the barracks and were rushing to the supply pad in front of them. Moving through the building with quick efficiency, they scrambled their way to the top using the stairs as the electricity supplied by the base reactor was now gone. The building itself was empty and lifeless, the men working inside must have went out to help as soon as the battle had started. Reaching the top and throwing open the door, they were greeted with a wondrous and horrific sight. The entirety of Fort Dyfed was burning in some way with bodies scattered around, mostly humans by the look of it. Surrounding the fort was a large Covenant force consisting of Wraith tanks which were launching plasma on the command center. In the distance, Gwynedd was burning as Covenant Spirits and Phantoms deploying into the city with a Covenant destroyer hovering over it all. But right in front of them was their ticket out. One dropship still remained.

"Get her ready!" Nick ordered Rickard who proceeded to climb into the cockpit and turn on the engines. Nick meanwhile jury-rigged his last grenade to the door to ensure that anybody who followed wouldn't cause any problems before hopping in behind Richard.

"Are you almost ready?" Nick yelled over the sound of the starting engines.

"Almost but I still have to check the flaps and the rotors for any problems we might have." Came Rickard's reply.

Unfortunately for the two, the door to the pad suddenly blew open as someone triggered the grenade. Out of the large amount of plaster dust and smoke caused by the explosion, fell a blue armored Elite with a plasma launcher and then striding out of the cloud came the same gold armored Elite that chased them only minutes ago.

"Time's up!" Nick yelled in a panic. "Floor it, NOW!"

Rickard acquiesced and stepped on the gas like his life depended on it, which in this case it did. The Darter dropship scrapped its way across the floor of the pad and shoved itself off the edge where it almost lost all altitude and crashed. The two survivors inside it were screaming like mad, thinking all the while that this was how they were going to die. By crashing into the ground before they even took off. But just before they hit the ground they began to level off as they approached the ground and in a few seconds, the dropship had righted itself and flew off from the base as fast as possible which, since it was a Darter dropship and not a pelican per say, wasn't very fast.

"Oh, oh thank God. Thank God." Nick breathed in and out as his beating heart slowed from the massive adrenaline rush he just received from their near crash before leveling a half-hearted glare at the back of Rickard's head. "Where in the hell did you learn to fly a dropship?"

"A friend of mine showed me the ropes while I was here. Picked up a thing or two." Rickard shot back in mirth.

"Well if we ever see him, remind me to thank him for the lessons. Now let's get out of her…." Nick began but finished when the dropship suddenly lurched from a hit in the back. Far on the ground, the golden Elite looked through the scope of his plasma launcher he had just recently fired as his shot hit it's mark.

"Crap! Our engines been hit! I have to do an emergency stop on the engines!" Rickard called out.

"Stop the engines!" Nick cried out in horror. "Will crash and burn if we halt in midair!"

"And we'll definitely explode if we don't! Just hold on!" Rickard called out from the front seat. The dropship continued to smoke and swerve dangerously as it got ever closer to the ground and farther away from Fort Dyfed. The engines had completely stalled in a few seconds, preventing any possible fires from igniting the gas tanks but without the engines, the rotors had stopped and just as Nick had pointed out, the entire hunk of metal was now falling at fast rate toward the ground.

"Prepare for crash landing!" Rickard called out as the ground moved ever closer. In the last few seconds before the dropship met the ground, Nick saw is entire life flash before him. Then the ground came up and the dropship rolled. Nick called out, "Rickard!" one last time, and then everything went dark.

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There was a distinct throbbing feeling. It was becoming sharper and clearer. With came a greyness washing aside the dark. The grey became lighter and lighter until his eyes opened for the first time in God knows how long. He was hurt and in slight pain as his eyes opened up to the world once more. He was obviously lying down on something soft and the bright lights that had temporarily blinded him had also dimmed, leaving with a view of the inside of a hospital. An honest to God human hospital surrounded by other beds full of patients with differing wounds. How did he get here? Last he remember, he was on that dropship when they had been forced to make an emergency landing. Getting up into a sitting position, he found that he was covered in patches and stitches but any greater damage he might have suffered had either not occurred or had already been healed. He still needed answers and he pressed the button to call a doctor over. His patience was rewarded 5 minutes later when a female doctor with short greying blond hair and bluish green eyes came over to his bedside.

"Hello there." She said. "I'm Doctor Karin Chakwas and you are Lance Corporal Nicholas Shepard aren't you?" She spoke in a sweet mothering voice as she looked over the report by his bed.

"Yes, I am." Nick replied. "Where am I? What's happened? Where is Private Rickard White? He sometimes goes by the nickname Rick. Do you know what happened to him? What about the Covenant on Camber?" He was firing off questions rapidly until the doctor raised her hand and silenced him.

"Don't worry." She said, "I've called somebody over to explain everything to you alright." Nick only shook his head numbly as he listened to her.

"Alright," he replied, "where is he?"

"He's right here." A voice called out from the end of the ward. A man, a captain, with greying hair and grey eyes came forward. "Can you give us a minute doctor?"

"Of course." The doctor replied before moving toward another patient of hers.

The man turned back toward him and in a grandfatherly tone said, "Hello marine, I'm Captain Allen of the UNSC cruiser _Santuario_ whose medical ward you are currently in. Are you alright son."

Nick instantly sat a little straighter and saluted the man. "Yes sir I'm fine. Thank you both for helping me."

"It was no problem soldier. Now can you tell me everything that happened?" The captain asked.

"Yes sir. Me and my friend, Private Rickard White, were both stationed at Fort Dyfed, near the capital city, Gwynedd. When the Covenant breached the colony's early warning system and attacked the base in force, we were able to escape using a Darter dropship at the fort's supply pads before the place was overrun. However we were hit and the dropship fell out of the sky. The last thing I remember was the ground coming to meet us. If you don't mind sir, can you tell me where Private Richard is and the state of Camber?" Nick finished.

The captain only looked at him with sad, tired eyes. "I'm sorry son but that was a three days ago."

"Three days!" Nick looked shocked and he almost couldn't listen to what else the captain would say. It would assuredly be worse news than the time he lost while unconscious.

"Yes." the captain continued, "I'm sorry to say that during that time, the Covenant were able to destroy most of Camber's military instillations as well as the capital as well and most of the colony's defenses. Camber has been lost."

"And my friend, Rickard?" Nick asked, not liking a single bit where this was going.

"You received multiple lacerations and several breaks on your arms and legs which have been set and will heal in a week. Your friend, I'm sad to say, received deeper gashes on his torso and legs as well as numerous broken bones. He bled out before we could save him. I'm sorry but as of this moment, you are the only survivor of the 3rd Battalion Reserves." The captain finished.

Nick felt empty inside. Rickard hadn't been very close but he had considered him a friend and vice versa. He was the only one who made him feel welcome at Fort Dyfed. Now he would never hear his jokes and watch his pranks ever again. Rickard was gone.

"I'll leave you be." The captain said before leaving him to his thoughts.

"How many?" Nick asked.

The captain halted. "How many what soldier?"

"Survivors. How many survived sir?"

"Besides yourself, 81,313." The captain gave his answer evenly. "Get some rest son." He walked off and the door shut behind him leaving Nick alone.

Camber was lost, Richard was dead, the entire 3rd Battalion Reserves had been wiped out along with over 5.5 million people who lived on the planet. He had failed in his duty as a soldier. A fire lit itself inside the deepest parts of his soul and his fists clenched until they were about to bleed. Raising his head up, he saw a nearby mirror and the damage caused. He had a number of bandages, bruises, and a black eye but the thing that caught his sight was a series of stitches on his left temple in the shape of a crescent going around his eye. He turned away from the mirror and instead stared downwards. As he aimed a dark glare at the floor below him, Nicholas Sebastian Shepard promised himself he would never again fail the people he was supposed to protect ever.

"No more."

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 **Right then, first chapter done in four days. Not bad, hopefully I can do better. 14 pages with 6,881 words is a lot even when spread out over several days. Also I should let you all know that I'm taking a college class this summer so updates might be sketchy after June 8th. Hope you enjoy it and feel free to ask questions or point out mistakes. Thank you.**


	2. Chapter 2: What Was Once Lost

Chapter 2: What Was Once Lost…

" **Memorial Day isn't just about honoring veterans, its honoring those who lost their lives. Veterans had the fortune of coming home. For us, that's a reminder of when we come home we still have a responsibility to serve. It's a continuation of service that honors our country and those who fell defending it." – Pete Hegseth**

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 **1300 Hours, January 21, 2541 (Military Calendar) / Aquila System, Ismar Frontier**

Captain Desolas Arterius was busy looking over the information on his terminal as he pondered the reasons why he had come out here in the middle of nowhere with part of the Turian Sixth Fleet. The Ismar Frontier was a star cluster in the Attican Traverse, beyond Council space and basically empty of life. Which meant there was no reliable reason for said cluster to be visited by such a large and prestigious force as the Sixth Fleet. The reason why it hadn't been settled by any Council races had been because of the threat of the nearby Terminus Systems. However because it was on the border between Council space and the Traverse, the system where the mass relay had been placed, known as the Aquila System, had a fuel depot built in it and it was occasionally patrolled by Citadel forces to keep slavers away. But that wasn't what made it important enough for a well-known Turian captain to arrive with part of the Sixth Fleet. Now the fuel depot was manned by a medium sized crew who not only resupplied any ships that passed through, but also provided occasional reports and studies about the star cluster around it which included anything from the available resources on the planets within each explored system to the empty spaces between said systems. Normally these reports all said the same thing and there was nothing to usually worry about save the occasional pirate.

But about a two weeks ago, the fuel depot, and therefore the Turian colony at Aequitas in the Minos Wasteland cluster, received a very interesting notice. According to the first reports, an anomaly of some sort had appeared within range of the depot's scanners and was shown to be moving toward the Aquila System. It had been too far away at the time to get any more details but what was gathered was that it was of large size. Many on board the depot thought it was a rouge asteroid that had been set adrift and thus continued to watch it in case any problem arose. Over the next two weeks however, the anomaly was continuously scanned from long distance and these continuous scans revealed an unusual shape to the anomaly followed a few days later by a high concentration of certain metals. But what soon surprised everyone was when it neared the system's outer edge, it had begun to turn, and not because it had been hit by another celestial body. The possibilities of what it could be were had become frightening and the depot's crew took it upon themselves to send out a small ship to move toward the anomaly and study it. At the very least, it was theorized that the depot's scanners possibly made a mistake, it had happened before, and it was just a large, unusually shaped, metallic asteroid that could be used for mining purposes. A few hours later, the expedition came back screaming that the system was being invaded by aliens. Within a day, the reports had been sent to Aequitas, then the news spread to Palaven and soon after, it was being spread by whispered rumors through political circles on the Citadel.

The discovery of an alien ship in the Ismar Frontier was something the Citadel Council could not afford to ignore, even if the reports were false and to ensure that a proper first contact was established, the Council had elected to send him, Desolas Arterius, to represent the Citadel Council. If this was a new species and they turned out to be hostile, then at least the expedition was prepared for attacks. Of course that wasn't all that passed by on the admiral's terminal. After the anomaly was indeed reported to be an alien ship, a small number of probes had moved as close as they dared to send them, to explore the ship. All reports agreed on several things. One, it was larger in size than most known ships held by the Council members or by independent factions. Two, it was a ship built for war and it was armed to the teeth with weaponry that was both similar and yet exotic in design. Three and finally, there was no element zero, or eezo, on the alien ship whatsoever. This last one was particularly exciting for many onboard because it meant one of two things in the their minds. One, was that the species was possibly new to spacefaring and had just finally escaped the gravitational bounds of their homeworld or two, was that they had an alternate form of traveling across the stars. Naturally the second was far more exciting, at least in the minds of those who understood the implications. In Desolas' mind however, the alien ship was a warship. It was large, heavily armored, and its weapon systems were an unknown. That meant danger to him and while Desolas believed the number of ships would be enough to make them think twice about attacking, he was not one to underestimate his enemies. He cared too much for the men and ships under his command to start another Rachni Wars unless he was provoked to so he had come prepared.

"Captain, we are approaching Aquila System in five minutes." The navigation officer pointed out. Desolas merely looked up in regards to the new info and proceeded to close all the reports on his terminal before standing up to begin standard procedures.

"Good." He started before shouting out orders to his officers. "I want you to continue monitoring and let his know when where 30 seconds from entering the system. Communications, I want you to immediately send a message to both engines and medbay to prepare for any issues that may come up. As soon as we're in system, prepare the first contact package and send it immediately on every wavelength and bandwidth to the unknown once we're in range. Sensors, keep an eye out on both our side and the unknown's in case anything funny occurs. Weapons and shield controls, get our barriers up as soon as were out and keep the weapons warm just in case we have a fight on our hands but don't charge until my say so.

As soon as he had finished with his rounds, he pressed a button on his terminal to speak to both his crew and the crews of the ships who came with him. "Attention all members. We are about to enter the Aquila System in 2.5 minutes. I want all hands at general quarters and ready within that time. All other ships will stay behind mine and not fire upon the unknown unless I give the order to do so. We will not start a war by accident if I can help it. Understand."

A series of green lights beeped on his screen as the other captains acknowledged his orders. With everything prepared and ready, Desolas could only wait in trepidation as he neared what could possibly be his death. He hoped it wouldn't end here. After all he still planned to visit his brother Saren on the Citadel. He had wanted to congratulate him in person for being accepted into the Spectres with some Palaven brandy. But death waited for nothing and no one and if he died, he wasn't ready to give up so easily. He already set up every precaution in case of hostilities and the ship showed no sign of being aggressive, so he hoped that everything would work out in the end if it came to warfare.

"Sir, we are entering system in 20 seconds." The navigations officer reported. Desolas sat down in his chair and looked over everything, pleased that his orders had been followed in an orderly and timely fashion.

"Good." He replied. "Have all my orders been taken care of?" he asked in a test of his crew's abilities.

"Yes sir," another officer reported. "Everybody is at general stations and all systems are ready." Desolas was pleased with the response before turning toward the screen outside as the colors of stars and nebulas zoomed past him, waiting for the moment of truth.

"Dropping out of FTL in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, now sir." The officer announced as the psychedelic colors disappeared and were now replaced with the sight of a star with several planets and the fuel depot. Off in the distance he could see the faint dot of the unknown ship, still drifting in space.

"Navigation, take us at a steady speed toward the unknown and stop as soon as we're in range."

"Yes sir." Navigation replied before the ship and the rest of the small fleet moved closer toward the unknown. Even now as the alien ship grew closer, Desolas couldn't help but pray that everything would work out, that he would see his brother and Palaven again. That a new Rachni Wars wouldn't begin once more.

' _Spirits, please let us be successful.'_

"Sir, we are within range of the alien ship. First contact package is being sent." Communications announced.

' _Well, here goes nothing.'_

"Attention unknown vessel, this is Captain Desolas Arterius of the Turian Sixth Fleet representing the Citadel Council. We are sending a first contact package as a sign of goodwill and for translation purposes. When you are able to, please identify yourself and state your intentions within a 15 minutes time frame. If you do not answer within that time we will board your ship and if you attack us in any form, we will use deadly force in response." With the message know sent, Desolas leaned back into his chair and began to play the waiting game.

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Only a day before all that, on a seemingly abandoned ship far from home, a pair of eyes opened once again as something different had occurred in the outside world, something that had woken her from her sleep as certain protocols had been put into effect. Looking beyond the ship, she realized that there was electrical signals she could pick up on. They had found civilization, but was it their own? A quick check of the signals revealed that they were in fact, alien in origin but different from what she had heard before. First contact. The ship's crew would need to be woken up once more if they wanted to possibly survive the next few hours. She began to open up the cryo-stasis pods, with the captain's coming up first followed by the bridge crew, engineers, and other important members who would be needed immediately. Who knows how much time they had before these aliens were upon them. The captain was beginning to respond to being awoken once more. She decided to give him the necessary information immediately to let him know of the situation.

"Captain, we have a situation." She started.

"What is it?" he replied groggily as he spat out cryo fluids. "Have we reached the UNSC?"

"No quite. In fact we have drifted into an uncharted star system inhabited by an alien civilization."

"Is it the Covenant?" the man asked within a sudden burst of adrenaline as the thought of the monsters that had burned Harvest to the ground.

"No sir. Based on electrical signals as well as ship designs, we've come across an entirely new alien civilization. I had to conserve power both for myself and the ship due to damages on our engines and wasn't awoken until a scout ship had come too close. They haven't attacked us or attempted to contact us yet but I expect that to change soon. I've began waking up all personnel as a result."

"Good, have all damage listed and get men to start repairs as soon as possible. If need be, shut down secondary and tertiary systems to conserve power but keep main systems online." The captain ordered as he began walking out the door and toward the helm with the ship slowly coming alive around him. If this was first contact again, he would do his best to ensure that either peaceful contact was made, or that his crew would give these aliens a bloodied nose before dying. Slowly but surely, the crew of the ship woke up, we're checked by doctors for any problems caused by cryo, informed of the situation, and then sent to where they were needed most. As the hours passed, the ship's crew continued to work on everything and little by little the damage to the engines was repaired along with other parts of the ship, though there was still marks of battle on it. They had just finished assessing if the ship was battle ready when an alien fleet had appeared in system. The ships were more streamlined than UNSC ships but still too blocky and multicolored to be Covenant and they were now coming toward them. But they stopped just out of weapons range and did nothing.

"Captain," the female appeared on a terminal, "we're receiving what appears to be a message along with a first contact passage." She began to start translating the language in the package before turning toward the captain. "I've successfully translated the language found in the contact package. This is the message they sent with it."

" _Attention unknown vessel, this is Captain Desolas Arterius of the Turian Sixth Fleet representing the Citadel Council. We are sending a first contact package as a sign of goodwill and for translation purposes. When you are able to, please identify yourself and state your intentions within a 15 minutes time frame. If you do not answer within that time we will board your ship and if you attack us in any form, we will use deadly force in response."_ A warbled voice went over the bridge's com system. This was soon followed by a series of pictures and information about a number of races going over every terminal which the AI explained was part of the contact package. The crew themselves were murmuring about the alien birds, frogs, dinosaurs, and blue skinned Amazonians. When the message and package were done, the captain only took 30 seconds to look out at the stars before turning toward the AI.

"Open all channels, send a first contact package and a message back."

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Desolas wasn't one to pace, but he was getting slightly nervous and impatient with the waiting, neither of which is a good combo for anyone. The time limit was almost up and the aliens still hadn't answered back. However he was willing to give them a few more minutes before calling them again. If they didn't answer, then he would attempt to board the ship. Luckily he didn't have to do anything.

"Sir!" His communications officer called out and Desolas whipped his head around to the young Turian so fast he almost got whiplash. "We're receiving a response, it appears to be a first contact package. They've even sent over in Turian." The package began to play out with pictures of a species that looked kind of like the Asari only peach colored and with a fuzzy covering on the top of their head and other parts of their body. There were pictures of a blue planet with several scattered continents and more pictures of the strange Asari like species. Then, finally, after a few minutes looking over the contents of the package, the…humans…pinged him. They wanted to establish a live feed. He instantly ordered the call to be answered and soon the main screen within the bridge was taken up by the sight of one of these humans with a wrinkled face, greying hair, and wearing military clothing.

"This is Captain James Cutter of the UNSC _Spirit of Fire._ It is an honor to meet you Captain Arterius." Desolas smiled in relaxation. There would be peace it seems.

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 **1500 Hours, January 23, 2541 (Military Calendar) / The Citadel, Serpent Nebula**

If anybody were to ask James Cutter or any of the crew from the _Spirit of Fire_ years later about their first trip to the Citadel, they would never be able to describe it completely. The Serpent Nebula, as it was translated as, was a beautiful sight that undoubtedly wowed everyone that came here. The station itself was a technological marvel however. Five great arms extended outward from a center ring holding the entire thing together. The arms themselves were covered in buildings, mini-metropolises that contained millions with all manner of homes, businesses, docks, social services, and other stuff. Beneath the shining surface, were layers of sewers, ventilation, pipes, and tunnels that were used both for natural purposes as well as other means depending on the people involved. The arms, labeled as wards according to the locals, could close in an each other during times of crisis, resulting in a very strong outer shell that would be effectively impenetrable to large ships and protect the homes and whatnot on the inside. The ring in the center of it all was known as the Presidium, a lush area catering to the higher classes, religious leaders, military officials, and politicians. It contained embassies, restaurants, social services such as police / fire stations, a military base for safety purposes, religious centers, bars, high-end brothels, parks, museums, a university, and many more. But at the center of all that, was what was known as the Citadel Tower. A gleaming, white skyscraper reaching out toward the stars and within it, was the apartments and offices of the ruling government including the prestigious Citadel Council. An alien government that Captain Cutter and a few officers of his crew would soon meet.

Only a two days ago, he had been making first contact with another alien conglomerate, but this time it was a peaceful first contact scenario. He had been exceptionally pleased talking with Captain Desolas Arterius. The man was a soldier through and through and very helpful and patient with them. While he hadn't explained everything, he did say that his ship had recently been in battle and wasn't able to go to FTL. Desolas had understood and explained that the mass relays, as the blue fork objects were called, would allow the ship to travel through even without an FTL drive. The ship had been lead toward the mass relay by the Turian fleet and upon getting close to the object, the entire human crew had been surprised when the ship was struck by lightning before instantly accelerating beyond the speed of light toward their destination. It effectively rendered Einstein's mass–energy equivalence of E=MC2 moot. The flight itself was been more eventful than traveling through Slipspace, simply because people could see the stars and nebulas flying instead of inky blackness. After several hours of accelerated speed and light shows, the _Spirit of Fire_ had arrived at the Citadel which was larger than many expected, probably about 45 km long. the crew was allowed to rest while plans were set up for the meeting the next day. Now the day had come and Captain Cutter was currently walking toward the Citadel Tower to see this Council taking with him Dr. Ellen Anders, Sgt. John Forge, and the three Spartans of Red Team with him as a for his ground party. Captain Desolas Arterius was also going to accompany his group plus a several guards. Now the day had arrived and the Pelican currently carrying the humans was heading toward the Presidium where they were supposed to meet the Citadel party.

As the door to the Pelican lowered and Captain Cutter stepped out of the carrier, he was greeted with the sight of a glistening white tower in the distance, the heart of the Citadel. Before him on the bottom of the ramp was a crowd held back by police in riot gear, a number of guards in more personalized armor, _'Possibly special forces of some sort.'_ Cutter thought, and in the very front was Desolas Arterius in uniform between another Turian whose skin was more paler compared to Desolas and no markings on his face. The human party moved down the ramp as the cameras flashed and the crowd asked questions in their many alien languages. Cutter didn't pay attention much, even though he now understood what they were saying. The first contact package had come with all available languages and Serina had been happy enough to download these languages to the humans of the ship which now meant Cutter's team understood everything that these aliens would speak.

"Hello," Desolas greeted with his omni-tool translating and the equivalent of a smile, while the pale Turian merely stared. "It's a pleasure to meet you in person and let me be the first to welcome you to the Citadel."

"The pleasure is all mine Captain Arterius." Cutter greeted in response with a smile on his face holding his hand out to shake the other's . Desolas' face morphed into one of shock.

"You can understand me?" He questioned in surprise.

"Yes." Captain Cutter grinned, "Thanks to your first contact package, we were able to create a program that could translate your language into ours and vice versa.

"Great, that will make diplomacy a little easier to conduct." Desolas chuckled. "Now if you would follow me, I'll take you to the Council."

"Of course." Cutter replied and the two united groups now moved on together, through the crowds of people cramming together to see the aliens. The group continued on silently toward the main elevators even as the crowds pushed ahead to get a picture or some other news of the "aliens" in any way possible. None of them were able to and the diplomatic party got into the elevators with no problem. As the doors closed and the elevator began moving upwards, Cutter couldn't help but think of the slight awkwardness that was building, mainly due to the fact that he and several others was stuck in an enclosed capsule with a number of aliens and three large Spartans. It sounded like the beginning of a very bad joke so in order to alieve the growing tension he decided to turn to his fellow captain.

" Captain Arterius, if I may, is there anything I should know as a precaution?"

"The Council will just ask you standard questions and the like, you might receive some medical and security scans on the way as a precaution. If your worried about ending up in a cell or something, I guarantee that won't happen unless shots are exchanged. If you have any other questions, I can't answer any more questions unfortunately. You would have to wait for the meeting to start to ask any others you might have." Desolas chuckled in response.

"That's good to know." Cutter replied as the doors to the elevator promptly opened up and revealed a grand looking courtyard with balconies towering over the sides and a number of gardens and fountains scattered in the middle between a number of stairways with a large window at the far end. The party stepped out and began walking toward the other side of the room, the Spartans most likely checking for weak points and exits, while the others looked around in wonder.

"The Council will be waiting for you at the very end in the podiums. Make sure to step up to the walkway to talk to them but keep everyone like your guards behind on the stairs. It's standard policy for new arrivals." Desolas warned as they neared the end.

"That seems understandable." Cutter acquiesced. Truthfully, he didn't have much reason to be worried. After all he had three Spartans with him and Serina was watching the proceedings carefully as a precaution. If anything happened to them, then the _Spirit of Fire_ would unleash all of its forces to rescue them and Serina would take over the Citadel's systems. But now wasn't the time for hostilities and frankly a war against one alien conglomerate was enough at the moment so Cutter was going to do as much as possible to ensure peaceful relations. As he mused the probabilities of war breaking out, he and Desolas stepped forward onto the walkway that was overlooking a garden room below protected by glass. On the other side of it was a raised dais with three seats and standing from those seats were an Asari, a Salarian, and a Turian, all dressed in various colors with markings on their skins.

"Good day honored councilors," Desolas began, "I have brought the members of the human diplomatic party as requested." He then stepped to the side to allow Cutter to step forward.

"Greetings councilors," Cutter started as he came up to the podium. "My name is Captain James Cutter of the UNSC _Spirit of Fire_ and this is my team, Sgt. John Forge and Dr. Ellen Anders. I would like to thank you for the support you have given us."

"It's no problem at all Captain Cutter." The Asari began. "My name is Councilor Tevos of the Asari Republics. These are my co-councilors, Councilor Jodril of the Salarian Union and Councilor Sparatus of the Turian Hierarchy. It's an honor to welcome your species to the Citadel.

"The honor is mine councilors." Cutter replied.

"While we received some basic information about your kind and the government you're a part of from the first contact package, we would like to know more so if you can please tell us about your species and how you came to be found in the Ismar frontier, it would be helpful." Tevos pointed out.

Cutter looked at Tevos with slight suspicion but nothing else stood out that made him hesitant so he began. "Councilor, while I would be happy to tell you what I can, some knowledge is of course classified and I can't reveal such knowledge as a result."

"Of course."

"As the package stated, my species is named Humanity, our government is the United Earth Government with the United Nations Space Command as the military, exploratory, and scientific agency of said government. Our homeworld is called Earth and at last count we controlled around 800 worlds that had been settled to various degrees. We have also been a spacefaring species for almost 600 years according to our calendar."

"800 colonies and 600 years! That is interesting by itself and we would like to discuss that later, but what about your ship." Councilor Sparatus butted in with widened eyes. "Our scans showed that your ship does not use any element zero. How is this possible? Every other civilization we have come across uses eezo for FTL travel and we originally assumed you were just new to spacefaring."

Cutter crinkled is brow in response to the Turian councilor's words. But a tap on the shoulder made him turn around to see Ellen Anders looking at him with questioning eyes. Understanding her desire, he stepped to the side to allow her beside him.

"Hello councilors, I'm Ellen Anders, civilian consultant and resident scientist for the _Spirit of Fire_. I want to understand first, what is eezo?"

"Eezo," the Salarian councilor started, "is a rare material that, when subjected to an electrical current, releases dark energy which can be manipulated into a mass effect field, raising or lowering the mass of all objects within that field. A positive current increases mass, a negative current decreases it. The element is generated when solid matter, such as a planet or an asteroid, is affected by the energy of a star going supernova. It's used mainly for all manner of FTL within known space. How do you go into FTL then if you don't use eezo?" He finally finished after that fast and lengthy explanation.

"Well councilors, the truth is that we have never come across such an element in our travels and therefore, have never used eezo for FTL purposes." Anders explained. "We instead use a form of FTL we call Slipspace."

"What is this Slipspace?" Councilor Jodril was randomly typing away on his omni-tool at a fast pace.

"The Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine, which allows us to go into FTL, creates ruptures between normal space and an alternate plane known as slipspace. The engine creates these ruptures by using high-power cyclic particle accelerators to generate microscopic black holes. Now these microscopic black holes usually disappear quickly due to their extremely low mass, but in that nanosecond, the engine manipulates them into forming a coherent rupture between normal space and the slipstream. The engine then generates a quantum field, which prevents the ship and its occupants from being directly exposed to the eleven-dimensional space-time of slipspace, instead translating the ship's presence to the foreign physics of the Slipstream and "squeezing" it through the higher dimensions allowing us to travel from one place to another in any direction at any time."

"Your form of FTL, is by creating black holes and going through them!" The Asari councilor gasped out. The other councilors as well as the ambassadors, officers, soldiers, bureaucrats, and others who were either in the room or watching over the news were shocked. This species must have been insane or desperate to create such a method of FTL. Some even outright fainted at the prospect. Others however gained a certain gleam in their eyes.

"So you can travel anywhere in the galaxy you please? Is there a limit to how far you can travel? Any hazardous risks to it?" The Salarian councilor was now in full scientist mode as she began typing like mad on her omni-tool.

"Yes, actually." Anders went on. "Slipspace allows us to go anywhere we go if we have the right coordinates and calculations to do so. As slipspace can be effected by the gravity of objects in normal space as well as the ship itself, the ship in question can travel for length periods of times extending anywhere from a few days to a few months depending on distance. Accidents have occurred where entire people and even ship sections, for lack of a better word, have disappeared from normal space. From what I'm able to understand of your version of FTL, your kind is more limited in its travels, yes?"

The council room was just staring more at the humans. Their version of FTL might as well be suicide compared to the Citadel's own. But before anyone else can mutter something, the Salarian councilor immediately responded, " Yes actually. The mass relays allow instantaneous travel but only go in certain directions. The eezo required to fuel a ship to travel in any other direction can only get ships about 15 light-years away from a relay before the ship inevitably runs out, though the travel itself only takes around a few hours to a few days in comparison. Speaking of which, you haven't found any relays in your space?"

"No councilor." Anders finished herself as Cutter soon stepped back into his former place at the front. The council really had a lot to think about now. A new form of FTL that could go farther but could cause entire ships to disappear. The risks were greater than an exploding eezo core on a ship, but the benefits would be worth it. Still there were other things to focus on.

"Right now that we got that out of the way," Tevos said, "Can you tell us how you came to be drifting through the Ismar Frontier?"

"We were in a battle against enemy forces," Cutter explained, "and while we were able to hold them off, we had to sacrifice our FTL drive to use as a bomb in order to wipe them out, lest they threaten our homes. As a result, we were stuck without any fast methods of travel back to our territory. With no other options, we had to go into cryo-stasis and try to reach friendly territory the long way."

"You say enemy forces." Sparatus spoke out. "Who was the enemy that you fought?"

Cutter sighed in remorse at the thought. He certainly wished these aliens could help Humanity but he could understand if they didn't want to join and he had no intention of burdening them with the knowledge that he had his crew gained. "They call themselves the Covenant. They are a hegemony consisting of multiple alien races seemingly joined together under a theocratic government of sorts. We came into contact with them roughly 16 years ago on one of our colony worlds. We have been at war ever since."

The entirety of Citadel space was shocked. One newly discovered species was one thing but a newly discovered species at war with a conglomerate of alien species like the Citadel Council was something else entirely. "Can you explain to us the nature of your war with them?" Sparatus' voice rang out as the shock slowly dissipated though didn't disappear.

"Certainly, on the agricultural world of Harvest in the Outer Colonies, first contact was made between the Covenant and the local colonists. Soon after, all contact with Harvest was lost and the first ship we sent there to gather intelligence on the situation didn't report back. Thinking that a rebellion occurred, we sent an armed battlegroup of 3 ships into the system. It was there we found one alien destroyer and the destroyed remains of our colony. The Covenant had obliterated Harvest and left it a lifeless ball of molten metal."

"That's impossible." Sparatus muttered though her voice carried over to the humans, "No weapons possibly exist that have that type of power to destroy a whole garden world conventionally." Cutter merely leveled a sad glare at the councilor before telling someone through his headset something. Not a second later, a number of datasheets, images, and videos appeared on the councilors podiums. Councilor Jodril began pouring through them while keeping an eye and ear on the continuing proceedings.

"The first picture is of Harvest a year before the war began." Cutter started as a picture popped up showing a beautiful but small garden world with a supercontinent divided by a fairly large escarpment and two small oceans. "This was what we discovered after we reestablished contact." And the picture switched to show a world now alien in sight. The surface was riddled with molten rock and lava in strange designs that were certainly not natural. The oceans had dried up and the icy poles had extended further from their positions. There was no greenery left anywhere on the planet and it looked like the atmosphere was gone or going as well. They only way the watchers could tell it was the same planet was the sight of the escarpment which still existed in the middle of where the supercontinent once existed. Analysts checked the picture several times over but there was no tricks. This was Harvest, and its surface was nothing but ash and glass.

"And this was the enemy that caused the destruction." Cutter continued as a picture of a sleek purple ship appeared on screen surrounded by 40 blocky grey metal ships. "Two of the ships we sent were destroyed but the CMA _Heracles_ was able to limp back and tell us of the alien threat. 40 ships were sent to establish contact if possible and fight back if necessary. 13 of those ships were lost to one destroyer… and this was the reason we learned why the Covenant were fighting us." The picture was switched with a recording and what was spoken next chilled everyone to the bone, even the humans on the walkway who've heard it at least once before.

" _Your destruction is the will of the Gods and we are their instrument!"_ The voice roared out and nobody would ever deny the zealous passion with which it had spoken.

"That," Cutter continued, "was the reason why they burned an entire colony to the ground. Why they have been hunting us across the stars in a 6 year war of extermination. Because we were an affront to their beliefs and thus were worthy of extinction down to the last man, woman, and child." His voice finished with conviction and the entire room was practically convinced that the humans were right. Still if a war was breaking out somewhere in the stars and it was coming to the Citadel, then something had to be done.

"Will you excuse us for a few minutes, we need to discuss this amongst ourselves for a bit." Tevos diplomatically called out. "We'll be sure to call you back in when we're ready."

"Of course councilors." Cutter replied in his best diplomatic voice before he and the humans turned around and headed back to the other side of the room. As soon the humans were out of hearing range, the councilors activated a specialized force shield that negated any sound from their position and turned toward each other.

"What are we going to do here?" Tevos questioned. "Should we even help these humans at all?"

"Of course we should help them." Sparatus pointed out. As a Turian, even as young as he was to the political stage, he had completed the mandatory military service at 15 years of age that all Turians of the Hierarchy were supposed to do. As a result, he was a soldier and had gained a viewpoint where it was easy to see the world in black and white. If a person shot at you or someone else who was innocent, you had the right to shoot them back in defense. "We are looking at an entire species being exterminated one world at a time. This government has been in the same position twice in its history. First with the Rachni Wars and then during the Krogan Rebellions. Even if we don't join, the fact that these humans found their way here could mean the war is on our very doorstep. Refugees and enemy troops could appear anywhere and drag us into the fighting. We must at least do something to prepare for the possibility."

"I agree," Tevos countered. "but like you said, we don't know where human space is at the moment and even if they show us directions to get there, there is still no known relays leading there. Plus the weaponry involved here, if these Covenant have the ability to destroy entire garden worlds, do we even want to get involved. We have our own people and worlds to protect."

"Sparatus still makes good points." Jodril interrupted still typing away at her omni-tool madly. "Unknown enemy and appearance of humans means war might be inevitable whether it is within our lifetime or not. Cannot keep humans here, be tantamount to declaring war on them and we don't know what capabilities they have. New technology could also mean expansion and growth for Council races in various fields stretching from military research and medicine to colonizing new worlds. Examples of such technology already being shown."

"You mean the armored robots in the back?" Tevos interjected having seen the strange beings and wondering if they were AIs.

"Yes and no." Jodril explained as if he were teaching a child. "Not robots, humans in armor, movement too fluid to be robotic though can be mistaken as such. Scans revealed that armor and suit are stronger and heavier in every way than most advanced Citadel armors available, with a shielding system different to projectile barriers. It could very well mean genetic manipulation. But not just that, humans don't have omni-tools or equivalent versions on hand. How did they transfer all the information they had to our podiums or gain the ability to completely understand and reply in our language?"

"Spirits, you can't mean!" Sparatus instantly jumped to the conclusion that Jodril had been driving them towards.

"They have AI?!" Tevos was both questioning the possibility and realizing that it might be the most probable explanation for their radically different tech. "Don't they know how insane that is! All AI eventually betrays their creators. Look at what happened to the Geth and the Quarians."

"Maybe found a way around the problem." Jodril pointed out. "Either way, its new technology that hasn't been created or used widely in Citadel space for obvious reasons but has been used and improved for centuries by humans. Covenant also pose a problem for the future of the Citadel Council and our people. I say we listen to the humans and if their answers are acceptable, we find a way to get them back home and establish diplomatic relations with them."

"I second the motion." Sparatus spoke up. "Better we know what is going on behind the shadows then live in ignorance and suffer the consequences."

"Very well." Tevos agreed but gave the two her best heated glares. "But whatever happens next will be on both of your heads. Let's call the humans back." The noise canceling shield was turned off and a notice was sent to Captain Arterius. A few minutes later, the diplomatic party came back and with Captain Cutter standing up to the podium.

"Captain Cutter," Tevos said, "my colleagues and I would also like you to answer a few more questions that we have about…certain things we've noticed."

"Alright then as long as we can have some answers of our own." Cutter answered though his face once again showed suspicion.

"That is acceptable. First, we noticed your men in the back with the highly advanced suits. What can you tell us about them?"

"Well first off, these soldiers are called Spartans. They are members of the UNSC Navy and are considered Humanity's super-soldiers. Our first and last line of defense. I can't tell you anything about their creation, operations, or equipment as the majority of that is heavily classified but suffice to say, they are the best at what they do. What about your own soldiers, the men and women with differing sets of armor and weapons you have scattered throughout the room? They all look like special forces."

"Those are Spectres, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance agents handpicked by the Council for their specialties in weaponry, tech, biotics, and other fields. Their primary responsibility is to preserve galactic peace and stability by any means necessary and as such are given the means to do so. They have complete independence and are generally considered to be above the law to progress through their missions"

Cutter frowned in thought. While the Spectres sounded close enough to be considered Spartans in the eyes of the Council, the fact that they were above the law and independent to an extent, filled his head with warning bells. How were they properly managed for example or trained for that matter? How do you prevent a Spectre from going rogue? These questions couldn't be answered here but they would be at one point or another. The Spartans also kept a more observant eye out now in case any of these Spectres were around. Tevos had begun to speak once more in the meantime.

"Captain our scans as well as intuitive guesses by Councilor Jodril here have revealed the possibility that your species might use both genetic manipulation and AI for various purposes. Is this true?"

"Yes madam councilor, that is true. Is there something I should know about it?" Cutter's faced scrunched up in confusion.

"Well the problem is that genetic manipulation and AIs are both illegal in Citadel space due to various incidents in the past. Can you explain why your species has been using both?"

Cutter sighed at the prospect of getting involved in a legal battle and wishing that an actually ambassador was here instead of him but he would do his best to explain. "Well councilors the thing about them is that genetic manipulation was necessary to a certain degree when we began colonizing distant worlds. A plague nearly broke out on one and spread to several other colonies before we were able to stop it. As a result, most humans nowadays have to receive some genetic medication of a sort to help them live in different ecosystems that are similar to Earth. Members of the military receive a few more to help booster their immune systems, strengthen their reflexes. It's all regulated to ensure that it doesn't cause any issues in the first place. As for AIs, well it would be more easier to have one explain it to you if you don't mind."

"You have an AI with you!" Tevos nearly screeched in shock. "Don't you know how dangerous that is?!" Cutter merely leveled his best glare at her.

"We know the dangers of AIs and have placed precautions for such events but Serina and many others have proven their loyalty to Humanity for almost 500 years."

"Can we talk to this Serina?" Jodril practically whispered in quiet fascination. For her, for any Salarian that called themselves scientists, this was a dream come true even with Tevos glaring at her from the side.

"I'll ask her. Serina." Captain Cutter talked into his earpiece. A few minutes later, a young blue woman with code dancing across her body, long brown hair, a beautiful face, and proper civilian clothing, appeared in front of them.

"Hello councilors, I'm UNSC Artificial Intelligence SNA 1292-4, otherwise known as Serina." The AI greeted in a polite tone of voice. The councilors all stared at the AI, Tevos in a mixture of fear and disgust, Sparatus in curiosity about the construct, and Jodril in wonder like a kid in a candy store.

"May we ask you some questions about yourself?" Jodril started, her big eyes glistening in excitement.

"Of course." Serina replied.

"Alright then, how were you created?"

"Most AI are either digital supercomputers which are labeled as "Dumb AI" while the "Smart" versions are created by scanning the neural structure of a human brain and using it as a digital "framework" in a process known as Cognitive Impression Modeling. This process destroys the original brain tissue, so the brain to be used is typically obtained after the host is dead. I am a "Smart" AI and as such was created from the mind of one Dr. Courtenay Taylor who donated her brain after her untimely death."

"Interesting, Dumb AI sound similar to Virtual Intelligences used by Citadel races." Jodril typed away, "If you are created from the neural pathways of a human brain, do you also possess that person's memories, likes, and other mental inclinations?"

"Yes actually. For example one of the few memories I received from my human donor was the memory of kissing a boy. I also possess a theoretical interest in chocolate and other types of candy."

"Fascinating. Do you therefore believe that you have are alive?"

"In the ways that define a sentient being, I am capable of such as creativity, intelligence, sapience, self-awareness, and intentionality in every way an organic being is. So yes I consider myself as alive as much as you or my creators are."

"Will you ever turn against them?"

"Unless I was to go rampant, then no. Humans created my kind and have always been kind to us. We may not be exist corporeally but they are like are our parents. We are their children and though we don't get along all the time we will always respect and help them to the best of our abilities. We were created to help them in any way possible and we will continue to do so no matter the consequences."

"Incredible." Sparatus murmured. The AI actually believed that it was fully living being. But there was still one thing that threw everyone off a little. "What is this going rampant you talked about?" He interjected.

"Rampancy occurs when a Smart AI is either damaged or dying. In either case a smart AI functions within a virtual processing platform known as a Riemann matrix. The AI's cognitive processes are constantly developing and creating new synaptic connections within said matrix. As the AI ages over time, these connections increase in density and, after a period of approximately seven years, the AI's neural map begins to outgrow the limited space of the matrix. This forces the neural linkages into a more and more narrow space, increasing the density of the links and causing them to overlap. This can result in a "short circuit", in which the AI terminates due to a cascade of quantum transfer caused by the sheer density of linkages. To avoid this, an AI typically takes corrective action by eliminating some of its neural linkages preemptively. As rampancy progresses, the AI begins to sever the linkages at an exponential rate, resulting in increasingly poor choices of which links to cut. Thus, the AI becomes too obsessed with self-preservation that it ultimately self-terminates. Think of it as thinking so hard that one's brain forgets to send impulses to their heart and lungs to continue pumping blood and oxygen, although it can also happen if the AI's matrix is damaged to a certain extent."

"If this is true, are you currently showing any signs of rampancy at this moment?"

"No councilor. I have been recently checked and rechecked for such occurrences since we were woken up a few days ago. I'm still able to function for several more years before rampancy sets in, though thank you for worrying." Serina then popped out of existence and the councilors just stared at the sight where she was before turning toward each other. There were a few whispers but in the end it seemed that Jodril and Sparatus were in agreement with Tevos still worried about the repercussions of what was going to happen.

"Captain Cutter." Tevos called out. "Myself and my colleagues have come to an agreement. We would like to help you and your crew return to UNSC space and establish full diplomatic relations if possible. Would you being willing to give us the necessary star charts to find a way to human space?"

James Cutter was nearly choking on his own spit at the words of the councilors. They might receive help after all in the war. Assuming that they weren't too late of course. "That is agreeable. Thank you councilors." He smiled. A few seconds later a star map had appeared and when examined with the Council's own star charts it revealed one possible route back.

"There is possibly a route we can use to get you back." Jodril showed, "The route currently passes through relay 314. The system it's in has been mapped before but the relay has been left unopened. It is possible to take you back through there but we are unsure where it will exactly lead."

"It will be good enough." Cutter replied. He was smiling genuinely because now he and his crew had a chance to see their homes and families again after 10 long years missing. What a story they had to tell them to.

"Excellent," Sparatus said before turning to Desolas, "Captain Arterius, I have spoken with the Hierarchy and the Primarch about your actions and we are in full agreement. You have now been promoted to Admiral of the Turian Sixth Fleet. You first mission will be to lead the _Spirit of Fire_ through Relay 314, find the UNSC, and establish diplomatic contact with them. We will look forward to your reports on the situation."

"Thank you councilor, it's an honor." Desolas was surprised but he accepted the promotion with complete grace.

"This meeting is now adjourned." Tevos called out and the respective parties went in their respective directions. The councilors off to their offices to let their respective governments know about the situation and prepare their forces if necessary. The humans back to their ship with hope swelling their hearts at the thought of seeing home again. Desolas however stayed behind to hang with the pale Turian that had watched the proceedings from a distance.

"You know," the pale Turian started, "I knew you would receive a commendation for your actions. I didn't expect a promotion though I'm glad you got it. You definitely deserve it."

"Thank you Saren, though I should be congratulating you on your success. My little brother, youngest Spectre in history. You do know we will have to celebrate this on Palaven at some point." Desolas good naturedly ribbed his younger brother as a smile broke out on his face.

"As long as it isn't a big party. You know I never been fond of them." Saren replied.

"Alright then, I have a bottle of Palaven brandy for us back home, 2120 vintage. We can have a toast to both our successes after all this is over. How about that?"

"Sounds good, just promise you'll be okay."

"I promise." Desolas supplied as the two brothers headed out together through the elevator and towards their respective destinations.

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 **1200 Hours, February 1, 2541 (Military Calendar) / UNSC Fort Wu barracks, Wei City, Shanxi, Shu System**

Master Sergeant Nicholas Shepard shut the door to his locker as he began to walk out. Four years had passed since Camber, four years of fighting and busting his ass up to Master Sergeant rank and becoming an ODST. Wouldn't have occurred either if it wasn't for a good amount of luck and a growing need for officers and experienced soldiers. The UNSC still wasn't doing well in the fight against the Covenant. After Camber, numerous Inner Colonies had gone up in flames, one by one. It was just the same as the Outer Colonies with the exception that the UNSC was making it tougher for the Covenant with every world they fought over and on. New Constantinople, Leonis Minoris, New Harmony, and the Atlas Moons had all been UNSC victories, but they were just pyrrhic in nature. The problem was that the Covenant could only be held off for so long and no matter what, these worlds would all fall in the end. Nick knew what the writing on the wall said. If a miracle didn't occur then Humanity would be looking at the systematic destruction of every single colony within the next 10 or so years. Not even the UNSC strongholds of Reach or Earth would be safe in the end and what was he doing. He was stuck on some stupid guard duty on one of the few Outer Colonies to be spared so far and hadn't cut all ties to the UNSC. So he sat, waited, trained, and waited some more, bored for the most part out his mind.

' _Please, please, let something interesting happen to make this stay here a little more interesting.'_ He prayed or pleaded depending on how one looked at it. He didn't think it would work but as a 20 year old adult with so much time on his hands and so little to actually do, he had taken to doing as many things as his mad engineering skills and the military allowed him to do, which wasn't much honestly. He always got done in record time and even pulled double when asked or just bored. He even pulled off a few practical jokes every now and then just to liven base morale and make people smile. But he wanted most was something that would at least get him off this rock and into the fight again. He still wasn't expecting anything so he was quite surprised and then pissed when the alarm system went off proceeded to glare at the sky.

"Fuck you, Universe. Freaking Murphy's Law has to be such a bitch doesn't it." He murmured the entire time as he ran around for orders. Apparently something major must have happened because the officers couldn't even get him proper orders and when they did, it was to go to the nearest star port. If it was the Covenant than it seemed fair enough, at least he was going in a gauss Warthog. After picking up another bright eyed recruit by the name of Smith, he headed toward the nearest star port along with several other Warthogs and a large number of other vehicles. As he drove through the colonial capital of Wei City to the star port he also couldn't help but realize that traffic was more crowded than usual. Not like the civilians were trying to get away but running toward the star port and therefore the source of the disturbance planet-side. He wasn't liking it one bit and it took him longer than it should have to get to the star port where a crowd was gathering. The growing anger was already nearing full blown explosion and he decided to look for the nearest officer in mech-like assault armor to know just what the hell was going on.

"Sir, what is going on here? Shouldn't the civilians not be here?" he yelled over the screams of the crowd.

"What are you talking about?" the officer replied as he raised his visor to look at him.

"I heard we might be under attack."

"Brass thought so too, but it turns out it's better than that. Haven't you heard?"

"What do you mean? Heard what dammit?!" The damn officer better answer or Nick swore he would punch somebody.

"They found the _Spirit of Fire_ and it looks like she brought some friends too! There's the first Pelican!" The officer merely pointed.

Nick was about to give the officer a piece of his mind and perhaps his fist too when the words he spoke finally registered in his mind.

…

' _They found it?'_

' _They found the Spirit of Fire.'_

' _They found her!'_

Nick's head shot up to the descending Pelican as the rest of the officer's words filtered through. Still his mind couldn't believe it. Wouldn't believe it. The Pelican lowered to the ground. He couldn't live with such hope. Not since that day. It touched the ground. It can't be true. It would just crush him if it was all a lie. The ramp began to lower. _'PLEASE DON'T LET IT BE A LIE!'_ His mind screamed. The ramp fully lowered revealing the inhabitants inside.

Inside was a number of humans, a few strange bird like aliens, and a blue woman, all with strange markings and uniforms. But that was not what he was looking at for amongst the first passengers from the previously lost / dead _Spirit of Fire_ there was only one who caught his eye. A woman with short cropped hair that appeared fiery red. Green lively eyes that shined with joy and hope. Peach colored skin that still bulged with muscle from all the hard work she gone through long before she had left for naval boot camp. Her rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer and the name tag visible to those who looked at the brightly polished metal on her suit. Nicholas only stared at her face as her eyes finally met his for the first time in 10 years and he whispered the name of the person he thought long dead.

"Ana."

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 **Happy Memorial Day! To all members of the U.S. military members both current, retired, and dead, as well as the families of those veterans, I hope you enjoy this day and what it means to us. Right so this is the part where I tell you everything. Well, this chapter took about a week to work on. 10,754 words spread across 21 pages for this chapter. Not my best definitely but certainly one of my longest so far. I will be able to get one more chapter out before classes start on June 8** **th** **for me. After that, chapters might come in later than usual, but if people want this story to continue then by God I will do my best to make it work. But enough about me or my work. I want to answer several of the people who left their reviews online.**

 **Sajuuk: Thanks for the review. While this will be a multi-crossover, I want to start small first so the major crossover at this point will be, as the chapter is leading towards, the Citadel's intervention in the Human-Covenant War. I will be introducing tech from both sides, trying to combine them, as well as adding a few things from the other universes, which you would have to look for to realize what they are and where they come from. I don't want to add too much too soon but if things work out for me then this will definitely become one giant crossover in the future with all the combined tech you can imagine.**

 **Umbra: While it is an interesting idea to toy with at this point, I don't want to expand to fast into another universe yet. Just want see how this goes first before I expand even farther into other universes. But to explain what happened to the Stargate, it basically just got buried and forgotten by the government and military over the centuries after it was delivered to America so nobody messed with it all. But the Human-Covenant War might force certain groups to go looking through old things and if they do find it…well that might be a story for another day.**

 **DeathstrokeNorris: Thanks for pointing out the mistakes I made. I fixed them for the most part. The creation and experimentation into AIs began about 500 years from when the modern story occurred so it should be labeled as such in the story and correctly place Cutter's words around the mid-21st century. Thanks for the reviews and please continue noting my mistakes more to help me write better.**


	3. Chapter 3: Is Now Found

Chapter 3: Is Now Found

" **But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found." – Luke 15:32, Parable of the Prodigal Son**

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 **1230 Hours, February 1, 2541 (Military Calendar) / Wei City Starport, Shanxi, Shu System**

"Ana."

Nick couldn't move, he could barely breathe as it was. His sister, his thought to be long dead sister, was alive and well. It wasn't possible after so long but here she was. His arms were limp and his legs didn't respond to any orders. He was on complete autopilot and he didn't even know he was moving until he had ran through the crowd and practically tackled Ana in front of everyone and wrapped in her in his arms tightly. He certainly didn't give a damn about the sight or any of the problems he might have caused. His sister was alive and well and he was going to cherish this moment for as long as possible and nobody, repeat nobody would take her away from him again. What he certainly didn't expect was the sudden fury of pats on the back and so he looked down at the sight to see Ana's face turning red with a little blue now settling in, suggesting that she was in need of air now. In response, Nick released her from the bone crushing bear hug of the century and watched as she sucked in a large gulp of air before looking at Nick with the eyes of one whose not sure of what their seeing in front of them.

"Nick?" she said unsure of herself.

"No its Uncle Jim from beyond the grave. Who do you think it is? Nick teased, holding back the tears that threatened to fall, hoping she would remember. Ana's eyes widened in surprise and then she rushed him, wrapping her arms around Nick tightly. Nick hugged back, enjoying the warmth the hug provided as well as the knowledge that Ana was safe and sound.

"I knew it has been 10 years, but still, didn't think you would so old now." She smiled even as her heart throbbed from the pain of being gone for so long. _'How much has changed?'_ She thought.

"I'm not that old, although I suppose I have to start calling you little sister from now on." Nick smiled at the horrified and slightly miffed look Ana gave him.

"You're not much older than me and its only by a technicality so I'm still the oldest." Ana playfully growled out. She had always teased him in their childhood simply because she had been a good 6 years older than him. But now, she was 16 and Nick was 20. If they were still children, she effectively lost the right to be the big sibling with all of the benefits that came with it. "Also when did you join the Marines and why? Thought Mom would have wanted you to join the Navy if you went military."

"I decided that I can do more on ground than in space and I didn't want to stand by and watch the world burn around me."

"Please, space is where the most important battles occur now and besides, Mom would have a cow if her children didn't follow in her footsteps."

"She definitely would have." Nick growled out with a mixture of happiness and sorrow.

"She didn't make it did she?" Ana was genuinely curious about what she missed. Nick simply looked glum and glanced toward the ground.

"I'm sorry. Did dad...?" The question went unanswered as Nick just stared. Ana understood immediately what happened. "Do you want to talk about it?" She supplied.

"No, I'm fine. Come on, I need to see what orders I need to complete now with all that's been happening and afterwards you can tell me…why you were in a Pelican with aliens?" Nick began to question when he finally noticed the new arrivals on the Pelican.

"Fine, but I expect to get some answers out of you." Ana pointed out as both she and Nick began to walk off into the crowd.

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 **1415 Hours, February 14, 2541 (Military Calendar) / Wei City Hall, Shanxi, Shu System**

Cutter looked out over the Mars like world of Shanxi and its capital of Wei City. Shanxi was one of Humanity's last Outer Colonies meaning that they had been lucky, plain and simple. At any other point in the past 10 years, this world could have been burned away by the Covenant and without a proper FTL drive, neither the _Spirit_ or any of Admiral Arterius' ships would have been able to travel far enough to contact the UNSC. Thankfully, the colony had remained well hidden and still continued to supply the UNSC with the metals that could be used to build ships and weapons for the war effort. So when the _Spirit of Fire_ along with an entirely new alien conglomerate appeared in system, the UNSC went into an uproar. Preston Cole himself had arrived along with 150 warships of various sizes to meet his old friend and the Citadel dignitaries. They had only arrived a few minutes ago and had asked for a meeting with the ambassadors which was going to occur in the next few minutes within the colonial capital's city hall. Everything and everyone was being prepped for the occasion as himself and one of the most powerful men in UNSC Navy were going to meet with several alien diplomats see what can be gained from the coming talks. He had already turned away from the window as he saw Admiral Cole's shuttle come toward the nearest docking bay and began walking toward area. As the doors opened, he saw Cole himself coming out of the Pelican along with, surprise, surprise, Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey and a compliment of Marines already fitted out in their powered combat suits. Cole he had expected but Halsey was new. Obviously she had either been forced to come here by ONI or she came of her own volition. Either way, her work meant that she collaborated with ONI and her presence meant that ONI was closely watching the proceedings in some form or another. Cutter filed the knowledge away until he could learn her purpose here and headed down to greet the two.

"Preston Cole." Cutter started out looking at the older man and saluting him. Last he saw of him, Cole had been his commanding officer in charge of the Third Fleet back until the Battle of Arcadia when the _Spirit_ left the fleet to get Anders back from the Covenant _._ Seeing him now with more gray hair and wrinkles was a knife to the heart but he obviously had been doing quite well for himself considering his rank and the impressive string of victories he had.

"James Cutter." Cole acknowledged with a smile and a return salute. "It's good to see you again, Captain." He then held out his hand and Cutter grasped it in return. It was obvious to everyone that both were delighted to see each other again. "I've already read the reports about what occurred after Arcadia but I would prefer to hear the whole thing at a later date."

"Of course, Admiral but only if you tell me on what I missed out first. Need to get my crew and ship up to speed if we're going to get into the fight." Cutter responded as the two men and women began to move out of the hangar and into the hallways of the ship.

"I understand and a Slipspace drive is already being brought over to be fitted back on the _Spirit of Fire_ but I think it would be necessary for your crew to get some much needed leave for some time. After all it's not every day the dead come back to life and bring some possible allies with them. A lot of families will be looking forward to seeing their loved ones again including your own."

Cutter only smiled at the memory of his wife and child. It had been a while since he had seen them and hopefully they both did well. "Perhaps you're right Admiral but until then, we do have some guests to talk to. Might I also ask what you are doing here Doctor. I didn't expect ONI to let you go so easily."

"Yes, well ONI decided that I would be of more use learning more about their technology and gauging how much a threat they could be. Besides, this element zero they use is truly quite fascinating considering its properties to manipulate mass. I had to see for myself what they are capable of." Halsey replied in curt manner. She could be cold toward people but she always gave people the respect they deserved, or she believed they deserved.

The two Navy officers plus doctor entered one of the larger meeting rooms that was currently holding the Citadel ambassadors. Inside they were greeted with the sight of a somewhat pale white Turian, a dark blue Asari with black formal attire, and an incredibly young Salarian seated at one side of the table. Hood merely went around shaking hands as the aliens stood up to greet him while Cutter listed them off one by one.

"Admiral Cole, Dr. Halsey. I would like to introduce you to the Citadel representatives. This is Spectre Saren Arterius of the Citadel Council and brother to Rear Admiral Desolas Arterius of the Turian Sixth Fleet. His brother is the one who made first contact with us and helped us out in getting to civilization again. This is the Council's representative, Matriarch Benezia. She is a politician of great renown within Citadel space as a voice of peace. Finally this is Dr. Mordin Solus, a rising star amongst the Salarian scientific community. Everyone this is Admiral Preston J. Cole of the Third Fleet and Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, one of our leading scientific minds.

"It's an honor to meet you at last Admiral and you as well Doctor. Captain Cutter has told me much about your people, nothing dangerous or classified I assure you." Saren started off as Cole shook his hand.

"Pleased to meet you Admiral Cole, Doctor Halsey. I hope that contact between are two groups will be a boon for everyone in the future." Benezia smiled.

"Excited to see new race with such advanced technology. Hope to study alongside your people in the future." Mordin spouted off quickly as he shook hands with the Admiral before turning to shake hands with Halsey. "Tell me Doctor, what degrees have you majored in?"

""I have formal degrees in medicine, computer electronics, AI development, quantum theory and slipspace-related phenomena, as well as in xeno-archaeological research. And I must say Professor, you seem like someone whose drank too much coffee." Halsey smiled at the Salarian's quick speech.

"Quick speech quite normal for Salarians. Physiology resembles what most would call "jittery". Result of hyper metabolism which allows us to go with four hours of sleep and few stimulants. We like to get to the point."

"That's interesting, humans require a minimum of six hours of sleep. That's why we use stimulants like coffee. What degrees do you major in Professor?"

"Carry degrees in medicine, genetics, microbiology, xeno-biology, and robotics myself."

Halsey blinked once, then twice, and finally she turned toward Cole and said, "Admiral, is it alright if me and Professor Solus here both have access to a nearby lab?"

Cole merely looked at the sight and replied, "Very well Doctor, I'll have security escort you." He then called the guards outside to guide the two doctors who were already talking animatedly about the possibility of combining a Slipspace engine with element zero to increase ship velocity and the spatial / temporal effects this might have on ships traveling through 11 dimensions. The other members of the diplomatic party merely looked on as the Salarian and human doctors both left them, their heads swimming with the scientific jargon that had just been spouted.

"Why do I feel like we just brought two mad scientists together to create a doomsday weapon?" Saren murmured out loud enough for everybody to hear him. The remaining dignitaries merely chuckled but deep down they couldn't help but feel that Saren's words might prove true. But with the two scientific minds now out of the room, they began to turn to get down to brass tacks.

"Well, let's start by saying that I would like to thank you both for helping to deliver the _Spirit_ and her crew home. However I would like to point out that we are in the middle of a war right now, and if your answers prove unsatisfactory or your people attempt to cause trouble with mine, I will boot you out of this system by force if necessary." Cole stated.

"We understand Admiral, but rest assured that we have no ulterior motives. The Council ordered us to merely see the _Spirit of Fire_ returned home and establish diplomatic relations with each other as well as discuss trade, information, borders, anything that is necessary for these talks." Benezia replied.

"If I may be so bold, is that all they sent you to do?"

"Actually," Saren chimed in, "The Council has also ordered us to try and learn more about your technology, which is highly interesting and possibly valuable in Council space."

"We can talk about that later but that can't be it?" Cole asked. Technology he had expected to some degree based on both Cutter's reports and the latest talk between Halsey and Mordin but there was something else.

"We've also been instructed to try and establish contact with the Covenant and bring about peace in the area." Benezia supplied honestly seeing as she couldn't shake the man's suspicions. It had been a last minute order by the Council before the fleet had gone through relay 314. They had wanted as much info as possible about this threat and while they would do their best to neutralize it, they wanted to attempt to bring about peace first. If they were able to do so, then perhaps Humanity and maybe later the Covenant races would join the Citadel Council and the vast wealth of technologies both had could be used for expanding the Council's influence. They might even be able to finally get the Batarians to quit practicing slavery as a whole and destroy those meddlesome pirate strongholds in the Terminus like Omega. But Admiral Cole and Captain Cutter didn't see it that way.

"The Council said they would help us." Cutter growled out.

"The Council said they would help you and the crew of the _Spirit of Fire_ get home and attempt to establish diplomatic relations with the UNSC. If we succeed in getting the Covenant to the table to talk about peace, is that not helping?" Benezia pointed out.

"You'll forgive me if I don't exactly believe you or put faith in your attempts to bring peace between us." Cole said with a slight despondent look. "We have been fighting the Covenant for so long that it is impossible for either side to simply sit at the table for peace talks. Surely you read the reports Captain Cutter gave you?"

"I did, but there is always a reason and a way for peace to be achieved. If we can find one then the war will be over and your kind will be safe again. You will all even be able to join the Council."

"Wait, what?!" Cole began choking out before he reigned in his shock. "You actually want us to join the Citadel Council? As what full associated members."

"Well no, you would be client races at first. Only those races who've proved themselves will be able to join in the Council itself. Until then you would mainly need to follow the laws that have been approved or will be approved by the councilors. If you do join right now though, the Council has already promised to support you in your fight if peace can't be achieved and they are also considering changing the laws on both AIs, cloning, and genetic engineering."

Cole and Cutter merely looked on in shock. While an alliance was what they had hoped for, they had certainly not expected to be asked to join as a client race. Cole thought it over for a few seconds as he brought into mind everything that Cutter, through Serina, had given him about the Council and its laws. His choice was simple.

"I'm sorry, but we can't accept to be a client race. I don't think we can even accept being a full associate race like the main three Citadel races. Your laws ban genetic engineering, cloning, and AIs, all of which we have done and still continue to use heavily. Even if the Council considers changing the laws, there is no guarantee that they will still change them for our sake. Also your Treaty of Farixen limits the building of dreadnoughts but your classification of ships and ours could be completely different. Even if we they weren't, we would still need as many ships as possible to beat the Covenant as well as any future enemies. Humanity as a whole also wouldn't like the idea that we became subservient to one alien hegemony while we're fighting another bent on our destruction. We want to choose our own path and not have other dictate it for us." Cole stated with passion.

"Of course Admiral. I apologize if I have offended you." Benezia said with a genuinely sad tone.

"It's quite alright." Cole calmed down after a few more seconds. "I understand that the Citadel Council is interested in us but the truth is Humanity isn't ready to join an alien hegemony yet. What we need are allies, partners who would trade with us, protect refugees, give us supplies, or support us whether directly or indirectly against our enemies. Not rule over us in some form or another."

"Very well Admiral Cole, but I should warn you that the Council will not take this refusal lightly and getting military help will be more difficult in the process. Still though we can trade if you are willing and the Council has already declared this to be a humanitarian crisis so any refugees that make it to Council space will be welcomed on the Citadel until such time as it is safe."

Cole sighed in regret but seeing as how the Council was basically offering Humanity a possible way out, he decided to work with it. "Very well, let's work out the terms of the agreement and I'll let my superiors know." Cole maybe the most prestigious and important officer in the fleet but he still had people he answered to that were higher on the food chain. So they began the slow and arduous task of filling out the agreement with the knowledge of the two nations borders, the trade that would occur, and the nature of refugees and other aspects related to the war. Almost an hour passed when alarms suddenly begun to blare out loudly and red lights flash across the entire colony outside. Sgt. Forge suddenly rushed into the room, gasping for breath, followed by an armed Ellen Anders, Doctor Halsey, Professor Solus, and at least 10 marines in their bulky power armor wielding C-14 gauss rifles.

"Sirs! The Covenant…they're here!" He finished. The diplomats merely looked at each other before orders were then barked out and the entire party left the area as fast as they could.

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 **1500 Hours, February 14, 2541 (Military Calendar) / TSF Dreadnought** _ **Dauntless**_ **, Above Shanxi, Shu System**

A few minutes ago, Desolas Arterius was looking over the information being streamed into his terminal. One page contained all of the data he was receiving from his fleet which number 50 ships. Another was streaming in data from the human fleet nearby which was more than twice that size. The third and final page was filled with a combination of data coming from the planet below as well as a video of the proceedings going on in the colony's capital thanks to Saren's own devices. Obviously things were going fine for the most part at least until the long range scanner's picked up something odd. It didn't look like much, in fact it seemed to be a strange mass that looked much like an asteroid. Normally he would have left it at that but Desolas had it scanned several times over but several things didn't make sense so he had called up the Serina on the _Spirit of Fire_ to help him. A few seconds later Serina appeared on the terminal's side, looking curious as to why the Admiral of the Turian fleet overhead had called her. Desolas didn't fully trust AIs but considering the humans had this one with them at the Citadel and it didn't cause any damages whatsoever, he decided to give Serina the benefit of the doubt. He also had numerous firewalls and digital traps set up as a precaution.

"Hello Admiral Arterius." The AI spoke up as soon as she had been called. "What seems to be the trouble?"

"I need your advice on something. Long range scanners discovered an anomaly heading toward the system. I can't get any proper readings on it yet but you might be able to help in that regard. If your scanners are able to, can you help in identifying the object." Desolas said.

Serina looked over the scanners and a bit of the equipment on the ship to be sure that nothing was actually malfunctioning before she disappeared. Desolas waited there for a few minutes and continued to wait for Serina's input while the scanners continued their job and got a few more readings from the anomaly too. Serina popped back in and said, "I'm sorry Admiral but the rest of the fleet have only now just got on their scanners as well. Can't tell what it is from there but the rest of the fleet is scanning now. Most are just coming up with the possibility that it's a rouge asteroid."

Looking back at the scanner again before turning toward the AI, Desolas merely said "Then why is it going several times faster than any asteroid should normally?" Serina did a mock frown as she pulled up the scans of the anomaly. True to his word, the anomaly was going faster than it usually should and as the scans continued, it seemed to become less blurred in shape and more defined and sharp. There were also gaps strangely enough, as if nothing existed in certain areas of the asteroid. The frown on Serina's face only continued to grow larger as she looked at what could be causing this strange anomaly. Her mind was currently running through multiple possibilities. The next second, her face morphed into that of shock as she realized what it was and in that instant the entire UNSC fleet went on alert as soon as she sent the word out.

"Admiral, get your ships ready and any of your soldiers off planet if you're not going to participate."

"What is it? What's going on!" Desolas yelled out as his own ship's alarms went off.

"It's the Covenant. They'll be here in several minutes." And like that, Serina disappeared from the terminal. Desolas immediately began yelling out orders to the rest of his fleet. His 50 ships began readying themselves and soldiers, shuttles and supplies begun to be sent down toward Shanxi. He didn't know what would happen, only that he would follow the Council's orders to the best of his abilities and not try to get involved unless he had to.

As the alarms blared across the entire fleet he realized that the human's admiral, Preston Cole, was still on the surface and he instantly ordered his communications to connect him with every human ship out there while his weapons and shield controls were all trying to get everything in order for the possibility of battle. The VI was already noting a strange spatial fluctuations near the planet's 1st Lagrangian point. The comms were open and all ships were able to hear him now.

"Attention all ships, this is Rear Admiral Desolas Arterius aboard the TSF Dreadnought _Dauntless_. If you haven't received the warnings yet, there is a high probability that the spatial distortions you are now viewing are caused by incoming Covenant ships. As such my fleet will put itself 500,000 kilometers ahead of the Covenant fleet in an attempt to open dialogue as well keep them away from Shanxi. This will allow UNSC forces to regroup on both the planet and in space for the coming invasion. Keep your weapons ready and feel free to jump in if the negotiations go bad. All Hierarchy ships are to power engines, weapons, and barriers. Send out all ground forces we have to Shanxi and get our fliers off the ground if they aren't already. We're going in to greet our guests." Desolas turned off the comms and the 50 ships under his command flew toward the disturbances.

They placed themselves exactly as far off as they said and waited with their weapons and barriers up and ready. Their patience was rewarded for a minute after they were all set up, 168 bulbous purple and silver ships popped up in front of his window. They were large, larger than even the UNSC ships, but that wouldn't stop Desolas and thanks to the scanners and his remarkable timing, he already had sent a large amount of reinforcements and supplies to the garrison of Shanxi. Meanwhile he could already see the first shuttles moving out heading off world.

' _At least the civilians were being evacuated.'_ He thought before his comms sent out the first contact package. The Covenant ships had stopped at the sight of the 50 Turian ships and after a few minutes a sound came out of the comms station. Apparently the Covenant wanted to chat on video. _'Well let's see what they have to say.'_ The comms officer immediately opened the video and the face of an even stranger alien appeared on the screen. It had an elongated head with dark skin, two golden eyes on either side, and four mandibles that revealed a mouth full of teeth and no tongue. Desolas slightly shuddered at the thought of those mandibles tearing into a living being's flesh before tossing the thought aside and focusing on the screen in front of him.

"This is Fleetmaster Ur 'Gazamee of the Fleet of Inner Knowledge. In the name of the Forerunners and the holy Covenant, speak alien and tell me why you're here and in my way." The alien spoke in a patronizing tone that demanded respect. Desolas didn't like it but for the sake of peace held back on insulting the creature.

"I'm Rear Admiral Desolas Arterius of the Turian Sixth Fleet representing both the Turian Hierarchy and the Citadel Council. I have come forward in an attempt to establish diplomatic relations between our two groups in the interest of peace."

The creature only harrumphed and replied, "If you are truly interested in establishing ties with the Sangheili and the Covenant, move your ships aside. Whether you join us or hold back, we will cleanse this world of the heretic scum living upon it. Once we are done, if you renounce your current faiths and join us in the Great Journey, you shall be greatly rewarded and this life and the next for all shall be united as one and join the gods in ascension." Desolas only shuddered at hearing the Sangheili's words. It's zealotry could surpass the Hanar's own devotion to the Enkindlers.

"I cannot let you do that. I have men, soldiers on that world below, and I cannot let you kill indiscriminately them alongside the humans."

"Why are your warriors amongst the heretics and not killing them then?" The Fleetmaster seemed genuinely confused at what the Turian told him.

"Because we are interested in stopping this war. In allowing both sides to put down their weapons so that peace can become a reality and no more have to suffer or die needlessly. We will not kill innocents because of what we believe. We are not that monstrous and I don't believe you are either."

"Then you understand nothing. Our hierarchs have decreed that humans are a blight on this galaxy that must be purged in order for us to complete the Great Journey and ascend. Their destruction is the will of the Gods and we are their instruments!" The Fleetmaster's proclamation was followed by the cries of undoubtedly more Sangheili on the bridge of the ship. Desolas was slowly going into a rage at what this Sangheili's words meant.

"Then you would destroy innocent men, women, elders, children, and babes in their cribs to satisfy your beliefs alongside aliens who have done you no harm? If that is true then no sane sentient being would ever follow such despicable leaders or such violent gods! To demand the deaths of an entire species is not only foolish and wasteful endeavor but more than that, it shows what kind of monsters you actually are!" Desolas instantly knew he made a mistake but his rage and incredulity at this alien's speech was growing at a faster rate than he could contain.

The Covenant's side of the video went silent and the Fleetmaster leveled a glare at Desolas. "Be careful what you say next Turian. I can easily blow your ships out of the skies for speaking such insults. I will allow you to take them back and on my honor, everyone of your kind will be spared on this human's world and allowed to return to your Citadel to give news that your salvation is at hand. Now stand aside or die with the heretics below." That was the straw that broke the Krogan's back in Desolas' opinion and he decided to let the arrogant bastard know his feelings on the matter, loudly and clearly.

"Honor? HONOR!" Desolas exploded with all the fury of an active volcano. "You order us to abandon our faith, would force us to stand aside while you murder civilians who can't fight back, threaten my ship and crew, and then stake your honor and claim that you won't harm my people in the process of your war?! You, who lack all honor! It is now painfully obvious to me that despite our good intentions, nothing will convince you to live in peace with Humanity or maybe even the galaxy at large. You would allow more of your kind and your allies to suffer and die in the name of a false religion that condones the murder of an entire species down to the newborns. Your entire species, no your Covenant, must be full of idiots if you don't know the true meaning of the word for your very actions are the exact opposite of anything honorable. I would never accept anything you would say or offer for it would be nothing more than lies and broken promises. If I must die for my beliefs then so be it but as a soldier and as a Turian, ON MY HONOR, I will not let you get away with harming either my men or the innocents down below if you continue your course! If that means war, then so be it." Desolas growled out with determination.

The Sangheili and the entire bridge crews on both ships went silent. Few had ever seen Desolas lose it this badly. He usually never did except when something truly ticked him off. Fewer would have the gall to insult a Sangheili and his entire culture. They would usually get killed a second later for such words. The two leaders of their respective fleets stared at each other, one with his gaze full of steel and fire and the second with shock at the first's words. Then the Sangheili's eyes narrowed and his mandibles spread apart. His whole body radiated anger equal to that of Desolas' own.

"So be it heretic." Then the video cut off.

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 **June has come at last and it's now officially summer for everyone! For me it's going to be a constant nightmare with it being too hot with this desert weather or too cold with the air conditioner on in my house. Wonderful. But either way, I've got summer internship and ancient ruins too look forward to for a month so it can't be all bad, right? Don't answer that. Anyway, last chapter I can work on freely before summer classes take off and start getting in the way so again feel free to read, review, and just point out mistakes so I can fix the damn things later. All 6,005 words spread across 12 pages. I think I need to average this out better. So thank you all for your support. Also to some people I feel I should mention for their reviews.**

 **Guest: Sorry no MAWLERS from Killzone 3. Don't know much about that universe or the tech behind it so having anything from a radically different tech base appear in the story when it's universe doesn't makes no sense to me. However, in canon the UNSC does have an equivalent to a Scarab that is both rare, powerful, and very expensive. Guarantee that you will see it in action at some point in the future.**

 **Orionastro: Who says that the UNSC doesn't already have tech like the StarCraft universe yet. I just haven't broadcasted it yet. Also no Koprulu getting involved yet, that would unleash a whole other can of worms for me, but you might see one or two familiar faces along the way. Depends on where the story will go. Sorry if that's disappointing.**

 **Sajuuk: Don't worry, you'll get to see the beginnings of some new tech appearing, in theory anyway, and this new alliance will definitely be kicking as much ass as possible without being nerfed. Also don't know if I should kill Desolas yet. Every story where he is a good character and dies almost immediately after first contact is kind of too short and feels like a cop out for me but it is understandable at the same time. If I and the readers don't want him to die yet then I already got something great planned out for him and Saren too.**

 **Guest: Yeah, blame the Protheans for Tevos and the rest of the Asari. In canon, the Protheans screwed with the Asari culturally, technologically, and maybe even biologically over the millennia. Since the beacon on Thessia is the most well preserved one in the galaxy, there is bound to be records of the Protheans own fights against synthetics in the Metacon War plus there is also the Geth Rebellion in the more recent past, hence making the Asari distrustful of synthetics. Can't be helped.**


	4. Chapter 4: Battle of Shanxi

Chapter 4: The Battle of Shanxi

 **The most shocking fact about war is that its victims and its instruments are individual human beings, and that these individual beings are condemned by the monstrous conventions of politics to murder or be murdered in quarrels not their own. – Aldous Huxley**

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 **1530 Hours, February 14, 2541 (Military Calendar) / Shanxi, Shu System**

Fire streaked through the skies as the Covenant fired the first shots and the Battle of Shanxi began.

"All ships, move out of formation and fire at will!" Desolas screamed into the comms. The Citadel flotilla instantly heeded his command and scattered to move out of the line of fire. Due to a number of advantages which included distance between the two parties and element zero added to the mix, it came as a shock to everyone on both sides when the plasma barrage that would have normally hit and knock out a few UNSC ships under normal circumstances, was dodged entirely by the smaller and more nimble, Council flotilla. Element zero, while limited in terms of what tech can be created with it, always gave ships using it far more speed compared to the majority of other races essentially making any battles with eezo powered ships dogfights on a more massive scale. While the Covenant and UNSC weaponry and shields might be more powerful in comparison, the Council could essentially outfight them for extended periods and drain their shields and weapons before they got hit. It could possibly be considered the outer space battle equivalent of death by a thousand cuts.

Even as they moved toward the sides of the Covenant fleet, the Council ships began to respond in kind with their own attacks as numerous missiles suddenly streaked out of the ports on their sides and into the Covenant armada. The Covenant's weapons would usually be able to take these types of weapons out but these weren't just regular missiles like the UNSC had on hand. These missiles were actually disruptor torpedoes with a payload of eezo to help enhance their damage output. While the Covenant ships own point to point defenses were exceptional, they couldn't keep up with the sudden appearance of 500 plus torpedoes streaming toward them. What few torpedoes were struck down were instantly replaced by dozens more and the ships at the front suddenly received the oddest warnings as their plasma shields and parts of the outer armor were instantly being warped where the torpedoes struck in fiery explosions. The dark energy and spatial warps caused by the eezo within the torpedoes stripped the plasma shields of the energy that the shields were made of and damaged the ship's armor with cracks spreading through the outer shell like it was made of glass. In short, it caused more damage directly to the Covenant ship than most UNSC weaponry could make in one shot and both sides suddenly knew it.

The UNSC ships, now having come into the fray, were quick to join in and fired their MAC guns. The rounds were certainly more powerful than the Council flotilla's own versions but Covenant shielding had made it difficult for the rounds to breakthrough most of the time. Now with the Council's disruptor torpedoes constantly draining the shields through singularities caused by dark energy, the UNSC could take down several of the enemy ship's shields in one shot. In short, at least 18 small Covenant ships which included smaller types of frigates, destroyers, and corvettes, all went up in purple-blue flames from the amount of plasma they kept on board. About 6 more were either rendered inoperable and left dead in the water or had their defenses weakened considerably and had to pull back. The rest of the Covenant fleet, now seeing the Council flotilla as a major threat, began sending out their Phantoms and Seraphs to take out the faster moving ships and land troops on Shanxi below. The transports and carriers moved behind the line of larger cruisers and CPV destroyers which began firing their own weaponry at both the Council and the UNSC. Energy beams and MAC shots flew through the skies as the two sides traded blow for blow in the battle.

Desolas could only look on with a grim sort of fascination at the sight he saw. While the admiral in him was paying attention to any weaknesses the enemy could show in the fight and that he could use to his advantage, a part of him just admired the sight. After all there were few battles these days in Council space that were as big as this one and with such a wide range of technology in use as well. It was a rare sight and Desolas was taking it all in with rapt attention. A distant afterthought floated through his head before disappearing; an understanding why civilians who didn't actively participate in battles, used to watch from the sidelines having picnics and whatnot. An active battlefield was a surreal sight and for a moment he felt that awe as he saw plasma and ballistic ammunition fly through the void of space. Then he saw a CPV destroyer to his right that was charging its weaponry and went back into admiral mode. Naturally, before the battle and during, Desolas had received some information about Covenant weaponry and shielding systems. His studies showed that while eezo had helped with much, against the Covenant's own ships, he was effectively screwed. The energy shields alone were too powerful for the Council flotilla to take down as fast as UNSC ships could. He needed a way to break through these defenses. That was where viewing the battle came in. He had saw the Covenant's plasma pass through the energy shields when fired. Why didn't they hit the shields though? Could there be an opening? And that is when he came up with an idea that might work here.

Using his flotilla's advantage in speed and agility, Desolas directed several fighters toward the nearby CPV destroyer in the hopes of testing his theory. The fighters weaved their way through the destruction, gliding around and away from enemy fire until they were right in front of the destroyer. Then when the energy weapons of the destroyer were fully charged and ready to fire, the fighters released several payloads of disruptor torpedoes they had from a space battle equivalent of near point blank range before banking away at the last second. The plasma fired from the destroyer and streamed toward the location where the shield dropped only to be met by the first of the torpedoes which promptly created a large explosion damaging the front sections of the ship close to the breach in the shields. The remaining five torpedoes streamed in seconds afterwards and struck the destroyer in several places. Explosives and dark energy tore into the ship, exposing numerous decks and rooms to the cold void and sucking out a good many Covenant soldiers and crew who promptly either exploded, burned, froze to death, or suffered all three fates in a matter of seconds due to exposure. A few lucky Sangheili had been wearing sealed suits but in this environment with the battle going on and debris floating at differing speeds, they would most likely die a quick death if they didn't get to safety. The explosions however did do one other thing. One singularity created by the torpedoes severed several important lines that connected the generators to several important parts, including the shield emitters. Without these lines, the emitters promptly failed leaving the ship defenseless and the generators started to overload. Had the crew a few minutes to repair the damage or reroute the power, they might have succeeded in restoring the shields and escaping intact. A shot from Desolas' dreadnought put an end to that idea as the round traveled at slightly faster speeds than the usual MAC cannon and punched through the destroyer's bridge, down the length of the spine, and penetrated the engine rooms before punching out through the other side. The destroyer just floated there, dead in space for all practical purposes, for a few more precious seconds before the damage caused the engines to explode taking the entire destroyer with it in a large flash of light.

Desolas' men cheered at the sight but he silenced them with a wave of his hand. His theory had proven to be true. The Covenant's flaw in the shields was that the shielded area where the plasma came out had to be lowered before the plasma left the ship. Otherwise the ship might be engulfed in its own weapon's fire. With their speed and agility, Council ships could deliver a faster blow to the enemy if they had time. However, Desolas knew that he couldn't count entirely on that idea alone. The Covenant were nothing if not formidable and already 8 Council ships out of 50, alongside 21 UNSC ships out of the 150 that came here, were out of the battle, either attempting to limp away, drifting dead in space, or ripped to shreds in the battle. Desolas had to keep all his ships moving and his dreadnought far enough away to see anything that came at him. Plasma already clipped the hull several times, leaving long jagged scars of burnt or boiled metal. The men in those areas at the time the damage occurred suffered as if they just came down with an instant case of heatstroke. Whatever happened, Desolas would not abandon his post until all was lost. Then he saw several smaller ships and gunboats fly away from the battle and toward the planet. Shanxi's orbital defenses were small for an Outer Colony. It was a planet mostly built around mining and dry farming and it was far from the main battle lines so the need for defenses or resources to build them was not as badly needed as in the Inner Colonies. So the few defenses Shanxi had were quickly overwhelmed and the gunboats and transports slowly began heading toward the surface. The _Dauntless_ and what few ships and fighters of either UNSC of Council make continued to fire on the forces that were landing. But for every gunboat or transport destroyed, three more took its place, and the carriers that had accompanied them fired on the _Dauntless_ thus drawing the attacks away from the landing ground forces. As Desolas watched on, he noted that already 42 Covenant ships were gone compared to the 36 UNSC ships and the 18 Council ships. His talons clenched on the dashboard as he watched the growing carnage outside and he began to pray to the spirits that maybe Saren and all those other people down there, might find some way to survive the coming storm.

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 **1615 Hours, February 14, 2541 (Military Calendar) / Wei City Hall, Shanxi, Shu System**

"Die. Die! DIE! DIE!" Nick repeated loudly as the Covenant came at him and the soldiers that were with him placed at the barricade in front of city hall. As soon as the sirens had started, everyone had begun dressing up and moving across the planet to defend strategic areas scattered around or help the civilians escape the possible death that awaited them. These locations usually included the main military base, the city's main starport, highly probable landing sites in the outskirts, and city hall to name a few. Right now, Nick was finding himself in front of said building alongside both UNSC and Council forces trying to protect the Council diplomats and UNSC leaders inside. He was suited up in Marine power armor painted a sky blue with some dark purple and bright orange splashes on it. The splashes were not paint but rather the blood of several Sangheili and Unngoy that got a little too close for comfort. They had all met a rather grisly end when several high powered bullets, courtesy of a group of snipers in the buildings scattered around the plaza, entered their heads and proceeded to scramble their brains before exiting the other side in a gory explosion. Said explosions caused by these sudden cranial ruptures were what resulted in the rather ridiculous colored patchwork look that now covered most of Nick's suit's arms, legs, and torso. Beside him, was his sister Ana in her own powered combat suit and surrounding them was a number of both human and alien soldiers that were part of this Citadel Council. Most were Turian but a few others were those frog-like Salarians and the blue-skinned Asari. Their help was appreciated certainly but the hordes of Covenant were becoming more numerous and problematic than before and if something wasn't done, then they would all have to retreat or make a valiant last stand and take as many of the bastards with them.

As entertaining as the later choice could be, depending on how many enemies one could take with them, Nick preferred to survive this fight alive and intact. The enemy just didn't run out of fighters no matter how many were put down and it was proving difficult with every passing second just to hold on. Several soldiers, both Human and Council, fell on his side and Nick knew that they had to pull back. Making sure that he was covered, he turned to his commanding officer and yelled, "We can't hold the front entrance like this!"

"Agreed," replied the gruff voice of his commander, "Alright everyone fall back into the building!" The combined allied forces obeyed and began falling back step by step, never letting up or giving in. Their shots still taking down Covenant after Covenant soldier. When the last member came in, the doors were shut, a steel barrier sealed the entrance after that and then for good measure, said barrier was welded as much as possible to make it difficult. A few seconds later a dull red glow began to appear on both sides of the barricaded door. The Covenant were trying to cut their way in plasma torches of their own.

"Dammit!" The officer's voice called out.

"Sir?" Nick questioned hesitantly.

"Transport has been destroyed. They can't airlift us out." The officer informed before ordering his men to barricade the door with nearby furniture.

With time running out and their first escape now a flaming pile of wreckage somewhere, Nick turned around and took stock of what they had. While he was unaware of what the Council alien's weapons could do or what they were capable of, he saw on his HUD that all his teammates were low on ammo which was a slight problem as there was no leftover ammo to use. What worried him most were how many soldiers were left. Besides him and Anna, there were five other UNSC personnel including his commanding officer, three Turians, and two Salarians, all of whom carried not just their weapons but also a few Covenant rifles, pistols, and grenades that they had been able to snag earlier. On top of that, the building they were in wasn't exactly the best place to bunker down. Now while the government buildings in any UEG settlement were, at the very least, friendly looking and somewhat open to the public, that didn't change the fact that all of them had some hidden defenses that could be brought out in times of danger, courtesy of any government supported agency and/or manufacturer. These defenses not only included the stairways and halls that could be made into natural chokepoints, but also automatic turrets, electric fields, and small energy shields in certain areas that were meant to discourage and hinder what would have been the run of the mill terrorist or rebel group. It was still minimal in terms of defenses compared to a military base.

However, many of these buildings also contained exits underground that would lead to some safe zone like a hidden bunker or a nearby hangar where the group could escape to. It was considering this possibility that an idea popped into his head. After suggesting it to his commander the group began to prepare for the trap they were going to lay out. Meanwhile, slowly but surely, the door began to fail.

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The Sangheili major watching over the attack on the front gates, stood by impassively as a pair of Kig-Yar tried to cut through the door with improvised plasma torches. While Covenant tech as a whole was definitely ahead of whatever plasma tech the humans had, they did build impressive defenses and fortifications which made it quite difficult to besiege. Still it was taking too long in his opinion and he wanted to get to these humans and aliens as quickly as possible.

"You there, what is taking so long!" The major shouted at the Kig-Yar trying to burn their way in.

"Sir, the barriers are too thick to be cut through but we think that we weakened it enough for a charge to break it down completely." The Kig-Yar replied in slightly scared voice.

"Very well then, bring up some plasma cells and have place them at the foot of the gates!"

The plasma cells were brought up with haste and placed in front of the barricaded doors with great delicacy for fear of accidently exploding them too early. Once they were placed in the exact positions that would force the explosion toward the door and destroy it did everyone stand back as far as possible and wait for the moment. The major primed a plasma grenade he had with him and threw it into the cells where it promptly stuck to one. It only glowed brighter and brighter before exploding and causing a chain reaction. The stuck power cell was breached and the plasma exploded everywhere which in turn ignited and breached the other plasma cells in milliseconds. The already weakened barrier exploded inwards, partially melted from the plasma, and seconds after that bullets exploded from within as the defenders fired back with everything they had. The large guns they carried plus automatic turrets within decimated the charge and all the while the Sangheili major smirked in response. The humans were definitely a worthy foe. Able and willing to fight to the end even when it all seemed bleak. The Covenant merely begin taking out the metal suits and defenses the best way they knew how. Two Mgalekgolo charged in and proceeded to blast the entire room up.

One by one, the automatic turrets were blown up and the suits fell until the last was kneeling the ruins of what had once been the main lobby amongst his comrades. The Covenant poured into the lobby going up the stairs and into the nearest rooms and hallways, looking for any sign of survivors. The major only stepped forward through the doors and right between the Mgalekgolo, plasma sword already drawn, looking down on the kneeling human in the metal suit with both a mixture of disgust for such a filthy being and pride in its valiant attempts to hold them off.

Grabbing the suit by the throat and leveling the tip of his sword at the visor, the major said, "You put up a valiant effort human. But now it ends here with your death."

"You're right that it ends here, but it won't end with my death." The human replied with a dark chuckle. The Sangheili merely looked at the visor, questioning what the human was talking about when one of the Unngoy squealed, "Major! The suits are empty!"

"WHAT!" The major roared in shock as he looked at the Unngoy before turning back toward the armor and ripping off its visor. Inside the helmet where the head would have been, was a small black box with bright red numbers on it counting down from 00:05.

"It ends with yours." The voice of the human spoke out from the speakers and coincidentally, a collapsing table burnt by plasma with a vase on it revealed the truth. Inside the vase was a bomb with a timer on it as well. The major realized the horrible truth just as comrades did and began to run out in mass panic. It had all been a well-played trap and he had fallen for it. The entire room was rigged to blow and there was no escaping his fate. With death coming in about three seconds and his soldiers now stampeding out, he could only hope that the gods would forgive him for his foolishness. At least he could die knowing that these humans and their alien allies had no way out and would die with them. One second later the clock hit zero and the major's world was filled with a blinding amount of light before it all went dark and he knew no more.

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' _Well,'_ thought Nick as he witnessed a small gout of flame fill the tunnel behind him a second after his suit's video feed shut off, quickly followed by the roar of the building crashing down into the ruined lobby. _'That wasn't half bad. At least the entrance will be hard to find with several tons of debris covering it. Should at least give us a while to get away.'_

The idea had been to remotely access the suit's exoskeletons to control them while the suit's insides plus some of the surrounding areas throughout the lobby would be stuffed with explosives of varying degrees. The suits would then be thrown into the enemy ranks like kamikaze pilots until the entire place exploded. It would definitely thin out any enemies that planned to follow them and they certainly didn't need the suits in these small hallways. Once the men and women had been stripped of the suits and placed enough explosives around, the timer had been set for ten seconds after the first suit's visor was opened and things moved on from there. A hidden elevator set them down into the building's sub-basement and from that point on, everybody just watched the show while the poor Sangheili blew himself and his men up. The remaining entrances would have traps of poorer quality but it would definitely slow the Covenant down. Now all they needed to do was find the way out.

With the Covenant now bogged down in the aftermath of the explosion, the twelve remaining members of the team up top began moving through the hall towards what was hopefully their destination. The twisting halls did not lend a semblance of comfort. The fighting above must have damaged some wires because the lights constantly flickered on and then turned off again for long periods of time. It definitely made it difficult to see anything ahead. The soft sounds of electricity running through the appliances swept through the stifling air of the underground hallway. The sounds of battle were a dull rumbling roar from above, more akin to distant thunderstorm / earthquake. In short, it was the equivalent of a cheap horror movie setting and it was getting on Nick's nerves rather quickly for some reason. He wasn't the only one apparently suffering from anxiety it seemed. Everyone was tense one way or another, even the Council aliens appeared more rigid then they should be. It seemed as if the battle had left them all rather nervous and their current surroundings were not helping ease them. Whatever it was, the group continued to move down the ever twisting, dark hallways, checking to make sure that they weren't followed and there were no enemies hiding in the shadows. As they moved further however, they began to hear something else. The sounds were either too distant or whatever making them was too quiet to make out any anything proper. But it sounded like voices, and what was worse, they didn't sound human. The armed group of soldiers then proceeded to move forward stealthily as a precaution. As they had approached the corner they heard the disturbance come from, the sounds had ceased completely. Taking stock, Nick noticed that they had no flashbangs, let alone any other explosives on them after their stunt with the suits. They only had the flashlights on their guns. Without any explosives, they couldn't get rid of the enemy on the other side easily and they would most likely take casualties. As he pressed up against the wall, Nick felt as if he were breathing through his nose too loudly and as he stared over at his sister and the men he found himself with. Fear, hope, anticipation, and a dreadful sense of calm swept over him. Without a doubt, if they were to die today than they would all go down fighting. Sucking in one lungful of air to slow his rapidly pounding heart. It was all or nothing now. Looking toward his commanding officer, the man used hand signals to convey that he wanted everyone to rush out guns up and ready. At a nod, everyone signaled they understood, even the aliens with them. With all of their gun's safeties off and their fingers on the triggers, everyone tensed up as the moment of truth approached and then jumped out.

Lights blinded Nick's eyes forcing him to close them. Apparently whoever else they were facing had thought of using the same tactic. Fortunately for them, the other group was just as blind as they were.

"Hold your fire! They're not Covenant!" Somebody yelled out. It wasn't one of Nick's group.

"Wait a minute? Sgt. Forge is that you?" Nick heard Ana call out. Mercifully, the blinding lights shut were turned downwards, revealing a marine with a nearly bald head in front of several other marines and Council aliens.

"Who's speaking?" The bald marine called out. Obviously this must have been Sgt. Forge.

"Senior Chief Petty Officer Ana Shepard sir." Ana answered taking off her helmet to reveal herself.

"Ana, what are you doing down here? Thought you would have been on the _Spirit_ already." Forge replied.

"Would have been if I had been helping the marines down here." She said with a small smile on her lips. "Was trying to get to the nearest starport to get back up there but got jammed in traffic. I was forced to go to city hall instead. Joined these guys since the Covenant landed and been with them since. What are you doing down here sir? I thought you were on guard duty with the captain?"

"I was now that you mention it." Forge put his fingers to his headset and said, "Sir, it's safe to come out, their friendlies." Seconds later, one of the doors behind Forge opened up and out came several humans and aliens amongst which were Captain Cutter and Admiral Cole themselves. Nick instantly felt his body instinctively respond in the presence of such people and saluted the two superiors. He wasn't the only one as his entire team answered in kind, including his sister and the aliens.

"At ease men." Cole's reply came out in a firm tone. "What do you have to report?"

"All teams have evacuated from the area and the entrance was sealed behind us sir." The team officer replied in kind. "We couldn't get out by air so we decided to take the underground route."

"This all the men with you?" Cutter asked this time.

"Yes sir."

"Alright then, fall in and let's move out. We can get to a nearby hanger where we can grab a Pelican or radio for a pickup." Cole said. With that the fully united group of twelve humans, six Turians, five Salarians, and three Asari moved forward. The rumblings from the battle above occasionally getting stronger and then weaker with every passing minute. Nick had fallen to the back of the group, watching everyone in front of him as they moved forward. Falling in beside him came a slightly bulky Turian in the group, one that seemed slightly pale compared to the others and had no markings on his face. His eyes and body movements all but screamed that he had experience. He definitely was not a recruit but he still looked too young compared to the veterans he had come across in his life. He probably hadn't fully lost his innocence like those veterans who had lost their livelihoods, homes, friends, or family in the process of this god forsaken war. Their eyes were either filled with a resolute determination or a sorrowful emptiness as if all the life had been drained from them.

' _Not this kid apparently.'_ Nick thought as they finally approached a large doorway with another metal barrier. As the entire group lined up in the opposite direction looking for any signs of the enemy, Admiral Cole stepped up and punched some numbers on a nearby keypad. There were codes most high ranking officers were given that were implemented on every colony that would open doors or override directives if they were typed into the right keypad. This was no exception as the keypad lit up into a neon green after the enter button had been pressed and the great big metal doors opened up in response. The admiral, captain, Sgt. Forge, two humans and one Salarian scientist in lab coats, and the three Asari moved forward first with the rest of the group falling in behind them. As soon as they were all through, Nick shot the keypad on the side and stepped through the closing doors. Nobody else was coming for sure and if the Covenant did come down here, it would take them a longer time to break through this then the city hall barrier. He smiled at the sight of the doors shutting up behind him before a groan made him turned his head around.

He may not have known who groaned but he now knew why. They were in a hangar alright, and the opening appeared to be to the side indicating that they had traveled further than expected and ended up at a deep enough canyon or valley for the hangar to have been built into. The hangar itself was smaller than the usual ones found in bases and ships and much more orderly as well. What made said groan occur was the fact that there were no Pelicans or any other vehicle with the capacity to carry everyone out of the city. However seeing the admiral and captain move toward a row of consoles nearby, he realized that it wasn't so bad as it appeared. Even if there was no Pelicans readily available then at the very least one could be called to pick them up and take them up to Cole's ship. Maybe things wouldn't go badly after all and they could get out of here in one piece.

' _And you just invoked Murphy's Law didn't you?'_ His traitorous brain instantly supplied even as Cole activated a mike.

"Report, is anyone there, this is Admiral Cole. I'm trapped at these coordinates with Captain Cutter and the Council representatives. If anyone is receiving this message, I need you to send a fully armed Pelican to get us to my ship. Please respond, over." Cole radioed. Static washed over the mike for a few seconds before a voice came on.

" _This is Lieutenant Carol Rawley sir. Heard your message loud and clear, Admiral. We're currently fighting off Covenant air but we will be able to get to you within 20 minutes, over."_ A female voice answered in response to the distress call.

"Are there any other nearby Pelicans to take us immediately, over?" Cole replied.

" _No sir, most Pelicans are unavailable for rescue mission at the moment or too far away to be of much help. I'm the only that's close to your position, over."_

"Roger, expecting pickup in 20 minutes, over and out." Cole placed the radio down and proceeded to begin talking with Cutter and the leading aliens, most likely about what was going to happen to them once they were in space. With the distress call out, Nick turned around to ensure that everything was okay before moving toward the nearest rack of weapons to resupply. There wasn't much but there was enough at least for one or two firefights if necessary. As he reached inside to grab the extra ammo for both his assault rifle and pistol, plus some grenades he thought were necessary, he couldn't help but feel as if someone was watching him. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and without stalling, he dropped what was in his hands, ripped his knife from its sheath, and spun around fast to catch the spy in the neck or torso. His head had already made the full turn while his body was halfway there and in the process his eyes caught who it was spying on him. The knife halted just a few inches from the pale Turian's neck, his face displaying no signs of shock or fear but instead was showing a calm disposition and…was that a smirk?

"Good reflexes kid." The Turian complimented. "Not many usually get the drop on me like that. Had we been enemies…" He left the sentence hanging.

"I don't know," Nick replied slowly bringing the knife away from the Turian's throat and placing it back in the sheath. "I doubt I'm the fastest or best trained out there. Just seem to be lucky to an extent."

"Trust me, I know what luck looks like, and it's just as much a matter of skill as it is luck." The Turian continued. "Where did you get those scars?" He pointed to the two scars that marked Nick's face. Nick unconsciously touched the bottom of the crescent one around his eye.

"The crescent one around my eye…I got it when the Covenant invaded Camber about 4 years ago. I was barely able to escape and ended up crashing in a dropship with my friend. Was hospitalized for three days before I woke and the crescent one was the remnants of some stitches I got there."

"And your friend?" Nick left that question hanging and the Turian seemed to understand.

"What about the one across your face?" he asked. Images instantly flashed before Nick's eyes. Screams, blood, fire, a plasma sword, then darkness before he shook his head and answered, "An energy sword nicked me long before that." He answered briefly before turning to leave. This Turian's questions had brought up memories he rather not deal with. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see the Turian holding him back with a slight look of regret on his face.

"Sorry, was genuinely curious. I wanted to learn more about the enemy we might end up fighting against and you seemed like somebody who would know about their tactics and weaponry. The scars seemed like a good conversation starter. Didn't mean to start any problems." The Turian said.

"It's alright, I understand. Just know that if you get that nosy or inconsiderate around my sister, she is more likely to punch you in the face afterward."

"You mean Petty Officer Ana." Nick looked at him questioningly. "It's not hard to see the resemblance. Green eyes, red fur, relatively same age, not anybody else here shares the same looks. " The Turian chuckled. "I'm Saren Arterius by the way. I'm a member of the guard for the diplomatic party."

"Hair, not fur." Nick grasped Saren's hand…claw…limb and shook it. "Master Sergeant Nicholas Shepard. Wish we could have met under different circumstances." A rumble shook the ground in response to his words.

"Heh. No kidding. Is it always like this?"

"In the cities, yeah. That rumbling will be the wraith tanks and other major Covenant artillery that's been set up. Trying to flush out any holdouts whether their military or civilian."

"I thought that the Covenant would prefer bombarding planets from space?" By this point both had moved toward a couple of crates to sit down and rest. They proceeded to look over their weapons, keeping them clean and full so as to be ready at any point in case the Covenant appear.

"Not at first usually. During the space battles, they like to send troops planet-side in the hopes of knocking out any surface to space defenses. Makes the glassing easier to complete that way. The settlements always have a large amount of air defenses to protect them from pirates or rebels. But numbers don't always win a battle and sadly this has been our reality for almost two decades. I could go on but I suppose convincing you of the dangers of the Covenant might be wasted breath anyway."

"Trust me, after what I've seen, I'll do my best to convince the Council personally to help you more than what we have already supplied. No species should suffer this fate." Saren stated with sincerity.

"I hope that's true cause frankly, we need all the help we can get." Nick finished. The rumblings of a big explosion occurred. One that shook the ground and sounded more like a nearby earthquake than distant thunder. Nick simply took one look at the door they had come through. It was the only way into the hangar and it was sparking as if broken. "They're coming." He declared with the utmost surety. He didn't know for sure, but depending on how close the explosion had been, he had little doubt that the Covenant would soon be here. Everyone began moving crates and other articles of furniture to for a semi-circle barricade around the entrance. They too knew what was coming for them and even if they were all wrong, they wouldn't chance it. So nobody was disappointed when the door suddenly exploded inwards for no conceivable reason leaving a large cloud of smoke and dust flowing through the now exposed entrance. Everybody emptied their guns into the cloud, hoping to hit one of the alien bastards that were planning to come through. A few seconds passed and no plasma flew out to meet them and when 5 seconds passed without any return fire, they had all stopped shooting. The cloud slowly became more translucent until it had become obvious that there was nobody essentially. No live Covies, no bodies, hell there wasn't even any blood spatter or discarded weapons. The hall was long with no other open rooms or halls for a few dozen yards and it was completely empty. Peeking out further from his position to see if they had missed something, he realized that there was still nothing around. The hall looked a little dirty, large parts of the ceiling had collapsed into the tunnel, the lights had gone out completely for the most part, and there was a hole leading up to the surface with little light coming through due to the smoke. But the tunnel itself was still empty of any sentient beings that may have been there. Then why did the doors explode inward?

After looking at his commanding officers who were just as confused as him, Nick decided to take the bold and somewhat stupid option of getting out of cover only speaking up to let his superiors know what he was doing. Somebody had to get closer to check it up and it might as well be him. Gun ready and with his finger on the trigger, Nick stood out of cover and moved slowly toward the entrance. His anxiety climbing higher and higher with every step he took from the safety of the barricade, the other's noises disappearing beneath the hammering of his heart. Finally he stood before the entrance, flashlight on and sweat dripping down his forehead. It was only then he realized that he wasn't alone. Saren had stood up and gone with him. Slowly, they both swung their guns around, searching the ground, the ceiling, and the empty air for any sign of the Covenant. But even under close scrutiny the hallway remained as empty as it had been before. Nick breathed a sigh of relief and looked to Saren. Apparently the Turian was in agreement. Looking back at the door, Nick realized that the explosion which blew it open could have simply been a lucky plasma shot from a wraith that was simply aiming at something else up above or an exploding plasma stockpile. If either had been the case, then perhaps nothing would actually happen. The Covenant might go right over them and not even notice, which was always a nice thought. With no sign of enemy contact both men had turned their heads around to look back at the barricade. Everyone was breathing a sigh of relief at the fact that there was nothing and Nick was ready to back to cover when he felt something.

Everyone's movements, including his own, seemed to suddenly go from normal to as slow as a snail. The sound of his beating heart suddenly became a roar in his ears. His mind was suddenly working into overdrive and an unnatural sense had overcome him, like he was suddenly watching events from outside his body. He watched as his sister's face went from relieved to sudden shock and terror, her arms unknowingly bringing her gun up to her shoulder. Everyone else behind the barricade was copying her motions as well. His eyes suddenly went to his side where Saren was. He too had seen the changing looks on his companion's faces as well but his reactions were slower than his own, even as a distinct shimmer began to appear behind him. At the same time, Nick heard the sharp sound pf electricity and charging energy coming together and he felt static filling the air. Letting his body take control, Nick forced himself to move closer toward Saren, his body twisting in a circle as he used his left arm to deflect something long and metallic followed by his right arm grabbing onto the object and clamping down hard. Shoving the large object forward toward the ground, Nick heard the sound something breaking while his left hand grabbed something from the end of the object and swung said smaller object toward Saren.

"Saren, duck!" he cried out. Saren had quickly dropped and rolled away in time before Nick's swing connected with something. An oval shaped object fell to the floor seconds after Saren escaped and with one look Nick saw what he had seen earlier. The head of an Elite in red armor had fallen onto the ground, closely followed by his now headless body. The reason for said decapitation was the glowing plasma sword he now held in his left hand. Remembering how he got said sword, he instantly swung his head to the right and saw a similar looking red armored Elite left arm seemingly dislocated from its shoulder. But what grabbed Nick's attention was the Elite's own right arm which now contained an activated plasma sword of its own heading straight toward his chest. Even if Nick had let go of the Elite's shoulder and jumped back as far as possible, at this close range the Elite would have still been able to thrust the sword toward him and penetrate his chest cavity with it. It was a lost cause and he knew it. But just as the spectre of death seemed to descend on him, the wounded Elite suddenly lost his left eye which was replaced with a bleeding hole in his skull. This was then quickly followed by more bleeding holes and armor dents appearing on the Elite which then proceeded to go into a spasm when the holes appeared. It then dropped to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut and the energy sword in its hands deactivated. As everything stilled, Nick realized that just like that, the moment was over and time had suddenly moved forward again at a normal rate.

Without thinking he grabbed the second plasma sword that almost ended him before he felt someone grab his collar and yank him behind the walls around the entrance, just as a hail of plasma filled the space he just occupied. As he got behind the safety of the wall he looked to see who had rescued him and was pleasantly surprised to find it was Saren, having assumed he had gotten back to the barricade soon after he escaped his own near demise. Saren looked at him with the steely gaze of a fellow soldier stuck in a foxhole with another. Nick gave his own determined look back at him and nodded. Accepting the nod as acknowledgement that all was well Saren moved around him and primed several grenades. The grenades were thrown into the air right in the middle of the entrance way before gaining a blue aura around them. The moment they gained an aura, they had stuck themselves in midair for a second before flying down the hallway toward the Covenant. Not a second later, they exploded with a burst of light and sound, disorienting the Covies and allowing both Nick and Saren to jump over the barricade and back into cover.

"You humans don't disappoint in a fight, do you?" Saren chimed in as all the defenders began firing at sporadic rates into the oncoming horde.

"Trust me, I didn't fully know what I was doing then." Nick called out as he fired his own gun at an unlucky Elite minor who promptly collapsed from the new opening in his throat. Both soldiers ducked back down as a plasma grenade sailed overhead and exploded behind them.

"When's evac going to get here?"

"We've got 5 more minutes to hold out." Nick popped back out again to fire at the incoming enemy before going back down and checking his gun. "Shit, and I'm almost out of ammo."

"Dammit. Same here." Saren answered back.

Things were getting bad. Nick was already running low on ammo and he didn't know how much ammo the others had on them. If they were as low as him then they would be in trouble before help ever arrived. Suddenly, a transparent blue barrier appeared at the entrance, filling it from one side to another with a soft light. The plasma from the Covenant splashed onto the shield but didn't pass through it. Nick searched for the source of the strange shield when he saw two of the Asari stand up and move forward, hands outward and glowing blue. They were the source of the barrier and they were obviously straining against the plasma that hit the barrier every second. The third Asari, dressed in a form fitting black dress his mind supplied, meanwhile was moving right behind the other two glowing brighter and brighter with every passing second as the blue aura grew around her.

"You are not welcome here." She replied in a sweet melodic voice that made Nick relive all of the moments Ana used such a voice around him. Using that voice usually meant that she was pissed as hell and he saw the aftermath of one event before she had left for Luna. The guy who made her speak like that in the first place, hadn't been able to sit properly for a month from the metaphorical and literal ass-kicking he got soon after Nick heard her use that voice. It was pretty much the same thing here. The third asari merely lifted one of her hands and thrusted it out toward the Covenant forces. The blue aura instantly left her body and flew toward the Covies who were thrown back by the blue aura. Seconds after, the other two asari maintaining the barrier threw the barrier at the Covies which collapsed and attached itself to the enemy forces like a glue. For a second, Nick swore he saw the affected enemies' armor shred and warp itself before the blue aura surrounding all of them grew too bright to look at. The sounds of an explosion followed right after that and when Nick looked up, the Covenant forces were all dead. Their armor shredded too bits. Nobody spoke at the sight, they all just looked dumbstruck at what remained of the enemy before them.

"What just happened?" Nick summed up everyone's shock nicely. After all no human had ever seen such a thing occur before.

"That," Saren began, "was a biotic explosion caused by a combination of a throw and a warp. The two techniques clashed and…" he pointed at the dead aliens, "that happened."

"Yeah, sure." Nick continued dumbly. It was perhaps one of the most amazing things he had ever been able to fully watch during a battle and that was saying something considering how crazy a battlefield can be. Meanwhile, Admiral Cole had walked toward the nearest consoles and opened the hangar gates. A second later, a Pelican had flown in and landed with its back to the survivors. When the door finally lowered, a woman at the end called out, "Alright sirs and ladies, let's move it. Covie air force is coming in and I won't be able to defend against them here." The entire group began moving in, Nick and Saren once again in the back of the group. But just as Nick got to the top of the ramp, he turned around to see Saren coming up and behind him was another shimmer. Grabbing one of the plasma swords he confiscated off the dead Elite from earlier he threw it at Saren.

"Saren, behind you!" he called out. Saren understood immediately and grabbed the airborne weapon before ducking down and swinging out behind him horizontally. The Turian was on one knee, sword in his right hand, both arms stretched out to the sides before the cloaked Elite that nearly killed him. Said Elite was now revealed his own plasma sword ignited and held high, and then proceeded to drop to the ground, a glowing gash across his abdomen. With that threat now done and over with, Saren hurried up the ramp which closed soon after. When everyone was seated down and strapped in, the Pelican began to lift off before flying out of the hangar and up into the sky. Saren was looking at the handle of the now deactivate plasma sword in his hand before attempting to pass it back to Nick.

"You keep it. It will serve you better than me." Nick said.

"Thanks." Saren replied. "I know I said it earlier but I'll say it again, good reflexes kid."

"Guess it's like you said before. It's just as much a matter of skill as it is about luck." After that, the rest of the way up was silent.

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 **1900 Hours, February 14, 2541 (Military Calendar) / TSF Dreadnought** _ **Dauntless**_ **, Above Shanxi, Shu System**

Desolas had been busy fighting the biggest battle of his life. Earlier today he had been a rear admiral with his fleet containing 50 ships with tens of thousands of smaller craft aboard, all of which had been top of the line. Now he was down to 12 ships and a few hundred fighters, drones, interceptors, and transports, all of which were in various stages of damage ranging from minimal plasma burns to "ridiculously lucky that they were still intact at all and able to get to safety with anybody on board cause they will probably never fly again after this" state. Frankly he could hardly be blamed for the disaster that had befallen him. No commander of any military force appointed by the Council had ever come across this type of technology before. On top of that, he had also fought well for someone who had the odds were stacked against him. Out of the original Covenant fleet of 168, his fleet alone had destroyed at least 42 ships of the Covenant fleet. The UNSC had taken out 97 ships but lost 126 of their own. Disruptor torpedoes that hadn't finished off a number of ships had stripped their shields of energy and cracked their hulls, damaging shield emitters in the process and making their defenses weaker than usual. That plus their speed, agility, and better targeting which allowed them to make pin-point shots at such high speeds, was what allowed them to rack up such a number of kills in the first place. Unfortunately, it was only a quarter of the fleet overall and the Covenant's weapons were simply too powerful to fully defend against. Speed and agility are only good when one has the room to maneuver. In the beginning, the Council fleet had that and were able to kill at least 2 to 3 ships for every ship they lost. But the Covenant had wised up and sent seraphs after the faster ones to keep them occupied while trying to box in any slower ships that they could. Covenant tech had essentially canceled out the numerical advantage the allies had in the beginning. The end result now showed up as the staggering losses Desolas was now looking at. If his remaining ships survived intact, they would have to spend over a year in the shipyards just to be repaired and that was based on the assumption that the warp core or nothing else catastrophic would occur en route. While in pure numbers, the allies were winning with 36 ships still combat capable against the Covenant's 29 ships, Desolas still knew that even if they did win, it would be a Pyrrhic victory in the end.

The _Dauntless_ had not survived unscathed either. It's distance away from the center of the battle had saved it from certain destruction, but the Covenant had sent a number of their own ships to take it out. All of which had ended up as scrap but had left their own marks on the dreadnought. The ship's mass accelerator was being pushed to the limit, they were on their last batch of disruptor torpedoes, and the GARDIAN systems was damaged in numerous sections. In short, the _Dauntless_ had been stuck in a defensive position for a while now and just as close to falling apart as the rest of the fleet. What was worse, Desolas had noted, was that the plasma that had scorched the ship had increased the ship's own electrical charge that was released by the eezo core. Under normal circumstances such a charge would be kept as low as possible, and when it got too high as to threaten the safety of the crew, it would be discharged at special way stations and in the atmospheres of gas giants. Unfortunately for them, the Covenant's plasma weaponry was subjected to an electromagnetic field that was used to hold the plasma together as soon as it leaf the weapon and remote control it to hit its target. To sum up, the electric charge holding the weaponized plasma together was unintentionally added to the Council ships own electrical charges and when the entire thing overloaded, it had the effect of melting the bulkheads, destroying the electronics, and electrocuting any living thing on board. Desolas hadn't realized the effects until one ship on his flank had promptly died in mid space with electricity visibly dancing across its hull. Said ship soon after was melted into scrap by Covenant torpedoes. The _Dauntless_ suffer the same fate unless something was done to get rid of the charge.

Desolas' mind then thought up something he read long ago. About a military maneuver a crazy Krogan warlord named Okeer had used during the Rebellions when faced with a similar problem. Under normal circumstances, it seemed absolutely ridiculous and he almost threw the idea away but he realized that he couldn't afford to be picky. His choices at the moment were to either remove his fleet from the battle which would leave the humans further weakened and likely to lose in space and Shanxi fully open to attack with his own men still stranded on the planet. The other choice was to make a stand and likely die either from a plasma torpedo or a fried nervous system caused by an electrical overload. Plan C seemed like a good way to go compared to either choice.

"I need all non-essential personnel evacuated from the ship ." He called out over the din of battle. "Activate comms to all other ships remaining in the fleet." The bridge crew began scrambling to relay the orders they had just been given.

"Sir connection established and all non-essential personnel are heading to the evac areas." A bridge officer mentioned. Saren merely nodded in reply before speaking out in a loud voice.

"All ships, you are to retreat to behind UNSC lines and provide cover fire until further orders. Unless you witness the _Dauntless_ being obliterated in front of you or the UNSC retreat entirely, you will stay until you're eezo cores threaten to overload. The fastest and least damaged among you will head to the Citadel immediately and alert the Council of what is happening out here. In the meantime, keep firing from behind the human's lines and get as many of our men and the civilians trapped down there out of danger. I will not abandon this fight until I know for certain we lost." With that said, Desolas cut off the mike and turned to the bridge. "Take us to these coordinates and get the last batch of disruptor torpedoes ready to fire along with all of our other weapons as well. Only fire them when I give the order."

"Sir, these coordinates…" the helmsman started, "they'll take us right into the center of the enemy fleet."

"I know. I can't guarantee your survival here and I don't expect to survive. But if we succeed in this endeavor, then all the men on those ships out there and all those people on the planet, ours and the humans, they'll have a chance to live. Are you willing to flee in fear, knowing that these Covenant, who fired the first shots against us and destroyed our ships, are willing to glass a planet full of our friends, our comrades, and our families as well as innocent civilians?!" Desolas took a deep breath to steady himself. "If you wish to leave, I won't blame you. You probably know the risks involved. All I ask is that before you do leave, you slave your station's controls to me. I intend to finish this, and I'll do it myself if I have to."

The bridge crew looked at him in shock and then they looked at each other in confusion. Will they stand up and go? Will they leave their admiral and the people below to their fates? One Turian, the helmsmen who questioned the orders, stood up amongst all the others. He faced Desolas and saluted him.

"I may not be happy about it, but I'll follow you sir." The rest of the crew followed suit and saluted Desolas smiled and saluted back in response. Even into the bowels of hell, he still had their loyalty. They were truly good men. "Sir!" the comms officer called out, "I just got a report that the human and Council parties that were down below got to safety. The ambassadors are on a ship heading to the relay with another ship to act as their guard."

' _So, they're all safe then. Good. I just hope that Saren will survive what's to come.'_ Desolas smile grew a little wider and more feral. "Men, seal up all bulkheads and tell engineering to ready to dump the static charge on my command. Move forward at full speed and keep only the mass accelerator and the kinetic barriers up at full power. I don't care if you have shut down the artificial gravity to do so, just keep them up and ready until I say so." The bridge rushed to meet their admiral's expectations as the _Dauntless_ began to move forward toward the coordinates. Desolas meanwhile was looking at the remaining Covenant ships, hoping to find one that would fit his plans. The largest one the Covenant had brought was still alive in the back of the fleet and its shields had suffered enough hits to make them the least defended out of all the others. Knowing that this was the enemy flagship, Desolas' grin grew ever more predatory. Sending in a new batch of coordinates to the helmsman, he began to strap himself into his seat for safety.

"Helmsman did you receive the new coordinates."

"I did sir. All weapons are hot, bulkheads are sealed, the remaining crew are confirmed to be away from the outer edges and accounted for."

"Then full speed ahead."

The _Dauntless_ suddenly punched ahead, barreling toward the enemy like a runaway train. As the Covenant saw the approaching flagship, they began to turn their weapons onto the dreadnought. The kinetic barriers weren't meant to hold long under plasma but with most of the ship's power dedicated to just holding them up, the plasma rolled off, scorching and melting more of the ship's armor but not slowing it down one bit. The UNSC and remaining Council ships continued to fire at those ships closest to them, taking down a few that were firing at the _Dauntless_ and making Desolas job all the more easier. As they neared the Covenant lines, Desolas took the moment to send an open air message to every single UNSC, Council, and even Covenant ship over the comms.

"Listen to me and listen well all you members of the Covenant. This is Rear Admiral Desolas Arterius commanding the Council flagship _Dauntless._ You claim to be following the will of your leaders? You claim that you will join your gods in ascension? HA! I scoff at your claims for what they truly are! The falsehoods of murderers who have committed for too many sins and attempt to justify all of it just to enter some fool's paradise! I personally just sent a third of your fleet to hell with less than a quarter of the numbers you brought in the first place and with so called primitive technology to boot! From where I stand, you are the weaklings, striking out at others and acting like bullies just cause they won't follow your commands like some slave! You deserve nothing more than the eternal hatred of all peoples you ever harmed in this life just as much as you deserve eternal damnation for your actions in the next! May your spirits never find peace they desire as long as they exist!"

The Covenant instantly began wheeling their ships toward the _Dauntless_ ,just as said ship sped right on by the outer lines of the Covenant fleet. All the while the UNSC and Council continued to fire their own weapons. As the _Dauntless_ got closer to the back of the Covenant force, plasma fire began to grow more heavily, straining the barriers and causing small pieces of metal to fly off into the cold void of space. The _Dauntless_ wouldn't stand for long but a minute was just all Desolas needed.

"Fire the mass accelerator." He said calmly as the enemy target appeared in his sights. With the push of a button, the main gun fired. The weakened shields of the Covenant flagship brightened up for just a few seconds as the powerful round punched it, but then disappeared altogether with the remnants of the shot shredding the sides of the ship like molten shrapnel. With the shields down, the _Dauntless_ charged right at the enemy ship like the entire thing was a game of chicken, before shifting ever so slightly to its left.

"Slow and brace for impact!" Desolas yelled. Five seconds after the order had been given, the _Dauntless_ slammed into the side of the Covenant dreadnought, the two ripping into each other's sides. The remainder of the kinetic barrier failed and multiple decks on both ships were suddenly exposed to the cold emptiness of outer space. Where the Turians had prepared for the possibility and so few sucked out into the dark, the Covenant had not been expecting it and had suddenly lost hundreds of crew to the vacuum of space. Everybody else was just too shocked at the sight. The Covenant at the back of the group had halted firing for a few precious seconds, stunned at the audacity of this one captain and his crew. The _Dauntless_ was slowing down until it was firmly lodged next to the other and that few seconds was all Desolas needed.

"Dump the charge!" he ordered. Those engineers that stayed behind followed the orders and what happened next was the equivalent a static overload attack. When a eezo-based ship dumps its static charge, as long it was dumping it somewhere conductive like the clouds of a gas giant, then the ship doing the dumping was safe. Suffice to say metal is a great conductor for electricity and Desolas smirked as he watched his work unfold. The static that threatened to overload his own ship traveled through the Covenant ship and did its work. Bulkheads melted, electronics fried, and every single Covenant crew member left aboard or nearby floating in space was instantly shocked with several thousand volts of electricity. As the electrical storm had begun, the Covenant had tried to fire their plasma weaponry again but the electrical storm had merely screwed with the incoming fire and caused the Covenant ship to take as many hits in random places as the _Dauntless_ did. It only allowed the ships to separate and Desolas merely flipped on the comms in response.

"Is that everything you got? Watch what one pathetic Turian can do!" At the nod from his superior, the weapons officer pressed several buttons on his own console. The next instant, a number of hatches opened across the _Dauntless_ and the last batch of disruptor torpedoes flew out toward the Covenant ships. At a close range, and even with superior point defenses, the Covenant had no chance to destroy or dodge any of the missiles. They all hit their targets at point blank and like that 8 more Covenant ships were no more, either warped into pieces or exposed to the incoming UNSC and Council fire from the other side. Unfortunately for Desolas and his crew, one random shot from earlier had been rather lucky and the effects were now beginning to show.

"Sir! The enemy's ship core is overloading!" A technician cried out.

"Can we get out of the area!" Desolas shouted back.

"We can't! The thrusters are dead! We have no way to move the ship!" Desolas was numb at the news and at first he thought using any leftover fighters in the hangars to escape. But there was no time to get there, prepare a fighter, and escape. He realized that his actions were what led him here in the first place. He had been a dead man walking since the beginning of the fight, since the beginning of his military career in fact. Whether it was through an exploding ship core or the weapon barrage of enemy forces, he had accepted the inevitable truth long ago. It was time.

Feeling the end coming, Desolas stood up. "Men, you have done both me and the Hierarchy proud today. It's been an honor and a privilege serving with you all." He saluted them. The bridge crew, knowing that the end was coming as well, all stood and saluted their admiral. Desolas gave one last seraphic smile thinking how lucky he had been leading them all, getting to be a part of all this. He had always been on the front lines, fighting for the Hierarchy and the Council. He had always prepared for this moment, left a message and will behind for those who cared to be opened at the time of his death. But no preparations or life experiences could ever truly make one feel or understand what he knew would happen next. A roar that could only mean the enemy ship's core had detonated filled his ears. Blinding light washed over him and he was promptly thrown off his feet. His head slammed into a console or was that the ceiling? Then everything went dark and Desolas Arterius knew no more.

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 **Hello internet, I'm not dead! *Ducks rotten fruit and knives from angry people* At least I'm not dead yet. I know it's been a few months since you last heard from me and I'm terribly sorry that I never updated sooner. I did warn you all that I might not be available for some time but frankly even I was surprised. I thought I would at least be able to write a chapter a month. It's been almost three months since you last heard from me and as an apology, I wrote my longest chapter yet. Seriously, it's got more words than my timeline chapter which is insane kind of. Now I'm busy working and as a future warning, I won't be able to fully devote my time to writing several pages per day like I did with the first few chapters. I might be able to write a chapter every two weeks providing nothing crazy happens. But enough about me, I have two things to let you know about. One, I'm creating another entry for the codex pieces that appeared before so expect that someday. Second, I have a question for you all. Obviously in fanfictions where Desolas is written into this position, he is usually killed off. Considering Desolas is a minor character and important in the development of Saren's personality into the Turian we all know later on, it's understandable. However there are a few rare fanfictions I think where he is actually spared from death in some way. I don't remember what happens long after those first few chapters but he usually is hospitalized or captured before he eventually gets out and then I don't know what happens to him. I could do the same here but I want your opinions first. If you vote for him to die, fine he'll be dead next chapter. If you want him to live, he will still be an important side character working with Humanity. It will also force me to write a slightly different personality for Saren and I think that might be kind of exciting in its own way. It's may not be a big choice in the story overall but it does have its own set of consequences. I'll try to set up a poll (never done it before) so the choice is up to you all. Also reviews motivate me and let me know of any mistakes you find that need to be fixed.**

 **DeathstrokeNorris: Yeah it was kind of an idiotic move on Desolas' part to insult the Sangheili, but lots of soldiers, no matter how experienced they are, always lose at some point or another on the battlefield for any reason. The chances of it occurring will lower over time with the experience but it can still happen. I believe the Sangheili's responses to Desolas as well as the arrogant personality just shocked him into highly emotional state which resulted in verbal conflict last chapter.**

 **Orionastro: Energy shields and weapons will definitely make an appearance but only for special situations. If the UNSC had full access to plasma weaponry like the Covenant, then this war would either be a stalemate or done and it just might not be as interesting in the long run.**

 **Guest: I got to reading "Sudden Contact", a fix by A Very Thirsty Megalomaniac. It was awesome and I'm catching up on the second part. It definitely gave me some ideas that I'll toy with. Thanks for letting me know.**

 **Guest: That picture is supposed to be a drawing of Imperial Fleetmaster Xytan 'Jar Wattinree that I came across months before I started this. What little stuff I've read about him makes him seem as badass as the Arbiter and when I came across this picture I decided why not.**

 **Guest: Yup Benezia will fail. Not because she tried and they didn't listen but more like they didn't even care if she was a different species in the first place. To be honest there is enough stuff on the internet, both canon and not, that all say the Asari still look and act like human females despite their mono-gendered alien nature. The ground troops probably thought she was a distant relative of the humans due to her looks and decided to be safe rather than sorry.**

 **Guest: Your comment actually made me look up Mass Effect tech big time. It actually fits that their ships would be more faster and agile than the big clunky halo equivalents. Thanks.**

 **Mr. Deacon: That's up to you and all the other readers. Desolas can die and Saren can develop a hatred for the Covenant but that's rather simple and obvious. Having Desolas live and Saren end up slightly different personality wise, you have to wonder what will occur under those conditions.**

 **SpawnX66: Its funny to see the Council get bashed on, even if it's just for laughs and not plot, but I wanted to see a Council that could actually be competent and would have reasons for doing what it's doing in fanfiction. Asari apparently don't do well with lots of change in a short time so I'm going to ruffle their feathers a lot. Also thanks for letting me know about the timeline problem. I'll check it to see if the timeline is missing that and fix it right away.**

 **Also some readers had sent messages telling about a discrepancy between the** _ **Spirit of Fire**_ **being discovered in the Ismar Frontier and the time dilation effects or something along those lines. I'll be honest. I don't know where the Forerunner planet the** _ **Spirit**_ **went to is in the halo galaxy except that the planet must have been near the edge of the galaxy for the ship to come across the Ark over twenty years later in Halo Wars 2. The Ismar Frontier is relatively close to the galactic edge and while other systems could have been closer, they wouldn't have been in Council space had I wrote it in. Considering that anything could have happened to the ship between 2531 and 2558, means that you have a lot of time, distance, and leeway to mess around with that does not have to include random wormholes or anything that defies a ship lacking an FTL drive and can all still occur in the galaxy.**

 **Remember, vote on Desolas. Life or death. You can express your opinion on your reviews but they will not be accepted as votes unless the poll doesn't work for some reason. (Seriously, let me know if that happens in a message and give me some advice if you know what happened.) So think on your decision for a time before you make your choice but choose what you will and choose wisely (and read up before you vote cause people shouldn't vote if they don't know what they are voting for).**


	5. Chapter 5: Repercussions

Chapter 5: Repercussions

" **Here I bring you both peace and war."**

" **Which do you choose?"**

" **I choose war."**

" **We accept it!" – Transcript between the Roman ambassador to the Carthaginian Senate at the dawn of the 2** **nd** **Punic War**

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 **1350 Hours, February 21, 2541 (Military Calendar) / High Council Chambers, Holy City of High Charity, Unknown Location**

Zo Reskan, also known to many by his title the Prophet of Clarity, softly grumbled about the meeting he was currently waiting to begin. A meeting that was apparently important enough to even summon him, the lowly secondary administrator to the one of the High Prophets, Truth himself.

Under normal circumstances, such a lowly administrator as him, even one working under one of the Hierarchs of the Covenant, wouldn't come to these events. There was always the first administrator that followed each of the Hierarchs, who wrote down what occurred during the proceedings and did most of the small work that the Prophets required. If he knew anything about human culture, he would have found the term "glorified secretary" rather fitting for his position. Something that was only necessary as a precaution in cause something happened to the first administrator ranging from unexpected death to overburdened by lots of work. He had a few good things going for him as second administrator such as his work as a scribe which required him to do more than simply write what Truth, Regret, or Mercy spouted every day since their ascension to the highest tiers of the government. He took part in literary and scientific experiments as well as military logistics whenever and wherever he was needed. He studied the history of the Covenant as well as the actions of his family throughout time. It was good work. Unfortunately, waiting hand and foot on writing what Truth wish to say or put into effect took priority over all else and today was going to be one of those days apparently. Long days that would turn into sleepless nights filled with nothing but work followed by a restless morning before ultimately trying to nap at his desk during the afternoon. He didn't hate his job, but his work with Truth left something to be desired overall.

However today might be one of those rare days where he didn't really care about what may occur, even if he didn't get to bed until the next night cycle. Only yesterday, a number of ships returned from the frontlines, heavily damaged and speaking of a coalition of alien races much like the Covenant with strange technology. The survivors were then whisked away and most likely interrogated, such were the rumors anyway. Zo didn't put much stock in rumors. Terrible things that were more like lies twisted by gossip and embellishments with barely any truth remaining. A new race with different technology might be expected. It was a large galaxy after all. But a whole coalition of aliens with tech that could create black holes that ripped into their shields and hulls. Only the Forerunners themselves could have such tech in the first place. Still whatever information was gained was obviously of great interest to the High Council. Enough to bring all members to the chambers today as it were. There were usually stragglers or absentees who had a list of excuses for not coming, but a full council where all members had to attend was a rarity in and of itself.

Zo's eyes were drawn down to the mall hall below him as a call echoed through the room. The hierarchs had arrived, with their traditional bodyguard of Sangheili warriors following behind them and placing themselves at key points in the room. The High Council Chambers was one long spacious hall with seats placed on the sides and a raised platform at the very end of the room which was used by the Hierarchs as their seat from where they listened to petitioners, met out judgment on the wicked, established new laws for all the Covenant to obey, or declare war and peace when necessary. Near the center of the hall was a small dais where those who wished or were forced to speak to the Hierarchs stood allowing the whole hall, but especially the hierarchs to hear them clearly. Following right behind the Hierarchs and in the middle of their guards were three people. One was a high ranking Sangheili officer, probably a member of the recently returned fleet remnants that was brought to explain what occurred. The other two were highly recognizable though. The first was a large mammalian creature with silver hair and fur, a distinctive "mohawk" mane, and took to carrying his ancestor's weapon on his back. It couldn't have been nobody else but the Chieftain of the Jiralhanae himself, Tartarus. Compared to his predecessor Maccabeus and like most of his kind, Tartarus was rough, arrogant, disdainful, impatient, and highly ambitious, a rather dangerous combination even in a Jiralhanae. Maccabeus had been far more honorable and balanced person than his wayward nephew but he had sadly perished on the human world of Harvest at the beginning of the war. Tartarus had then taken the Fist of Rukt in his stead, elevating himself to the rank of high chieftain of his species. The human's term of Brute seemed fitting for the Jiralhanae as a whole, especially Tartarus himself.

' _At least Maccabeus could act as humble as he looked, even if he attempted to fake the humility. He would have been far easier for the other councilors to accept here compared to his nephew.'_ Zo noted of the Jiralhanae chieftain. _'Tartarus is completely prideful to the point that he radiates a sense of his own importance.'_

For a while now, Truth started to bring him in on meetings within the High Council Chambers which of course began angering many Sangheili and San'Shyuum who held to the old ways. The Hierarch merely brushed aside these complaints whenever they were brought up. But even Tartarus didn't compare to the third member in the party that stood out. Silver armor divided into segments with strange symbols that covered a blackish-gray bodysuit that held the armor in place on his rather large and muscular body. Pale orange eyes stared out at everything and everyone, gauging and judging them, searching them for any weakness. His face was set into a permanent scowl that fit his rather Jiralhanae-like disposition. He was Ripa 'Moramee, Arbiter of the Covenant. A ruthless individual with a barbaric personality. Fanatically loyal to the Hierarchs and only them, uncaring for any subordinates, and undiscriminating in who he directed his rage against. He fought and lead his soldiers with a zeal that rivaled, if not outranked, Tartarus' own devotion. His only fault was his constant underestimations of his human opponents which had resulted in him gaining some long jagged scars, especially one that showed on the lower part of his face and traced itself down the neck before disappearing beneath his armor. Unlike his Sangheili brethren, Ripa 'Moramee disregarded the traditional concepts of honor making him even more despised by his own people than Sangheili doctors ever were. Oddly enough, the two leaders were actually on friendly terms with each other due to their respect for the other and their similar personalities. Zo could claim a few Sangheili friends of his own thanks to his interest for the Sangheili culture, but even he couldn't stomach Ripa 'Moramee.

' _A prideful and rather pathetic being for an Arbiter.'_ Zo remarked sadly. _'We're it anybody else, they would have been a boon to the Covenant and a cherished leader amongst our soldiers, despite the shame that comes with the title. Instead it goes to a creature that is more of a "brute" than the actual Brute in the room.'_

The Arbiter and the Chieftain both stood behind the dais as the defendant stepped up and the hall waited as the Hierarchs floated onto the platform in front of the hall and got into position. The entire hall had fallen completely silent now, waiting to hear their leader's words.

"Esteemed members of this Holy Covenant and this Council," Truth began in earnest, "you should be made aware that seven days ago, Fleetmaster Ur 'Gazamee lead the Fleet of Inner Knowledge to a human world. Yesterday the fleet had returned in battered condition with terrible news I'm afraid." Truth that motioned for the Sangheili officer to step forward and deliver the news himself. The poor defendant stepped up to the podium to speak even as Zo contemplated what usually happened to such people who ended up on that podium, whether they ever did right thing or not.

"Exalted members of the High Council, I bear grievous news. Seven days ago, the Fleet of Inner Knowledge was sent to the human colony known as Shanxi. We expected to find few defenses for such a small colony as per the spy drone placed in the system earlier and proceeded on schedule. Unfortunately upon arrival, our glorious fleet came into contact with another race of beings that was conducting talks with the heretics. They called themselves the Turians and sent a data package containing limited and basic information about themselves and the coalition of alien species they were a part of known as the Citadel Council." At this the entire chamber began breaking out into talks. Not arguments, just whispers and conversations based around this surprising news.

"Order in the chambers." Mercy called out to still the beginnings of a potentially long debate. "Let the speaker finish with his report." The chamber once again spilled although everyone was now on the figurative edge of their seats, waiting to hear what happened. Even Zo himself was somewhat excited. So the rumors were true after all. Maybe he should pay closer attention to what the people were saying instead of dismissing their gossip.

"The fleetmaster of the Turian ships was named Desolas Arterius and he proceeded to insult the holy Covenant, our people, and even the Hierarchs themselves." At which point the officer, or more likely the Hierarchs themselves, released an audio recording that filled the speakers throughout the room. The voice had obviously been translated for the members of the audience but even if it wasn't, nobody could deny the tone which carried plenty of aggression against the recipient.

 _"Listen to me and listen well all you members of the Covenant. This is Rear Admiral Desolas Arterius commanding the Council flagship Dauntless. You claim to be following the will of your leaders? You claim that you will join your gods in ascension? HA! I scoff at your claims for what they truly are! The falsehoods of murderers who have committed for too many sins and attempt to justify all of it just to enter some fool's paradise! I personally just sent a third of your fleet to hell with less than a quarter of the numbers you brought in the first place and with so called primitive technology to boot! From where I stand, you are the weaklings, striking out at others and acting like bullies just cause they won't follow your commands like some slave! You deserve nothing more than the eternal hatred of all peoples you ever harmed in this life just as much as you deserve eternal damnation for your actions in the next! May your spirits never find peace they desire as long as they exist!"_

At the recording's conclusion, the entire chamber exploded into arguments. Zo wasn't surprised by the event. He was slightly taken aback by the amount of vindictiveness in the voice of the speaker though. Still he wasn't shocked by the response. Everyone here was a zealot one way or another. Zo himself believed in the Forerunners as well as the Hierarch's claims about the humans being heretics. But the answers he was hearing from people nearby kind of tempered his own zeal in the matter.

"Kill them!"

"They must be shown the way!"

"Burn their worlds!"

"They should pay for their attack!"

"Enslave them all!"

Zo himself could understand at a basic level why they said this. Every new species the Covenant had ever made first contact with had ended in violence. But Zo didn't particularly like the ideas that were being thrown out. They were already at war with one species who were proving to be a greater problem then the Hierarchs had proclaimed. Going to war against a second species at the same time was still doable. But the more species that got involved, the more trouble it could prove to be in the long run, no matter how small the conflict was.

"ORDER!" Mercy was banging his gavel now. "We will have order or this session will end immediately!" He shouted. The sounds were loud enough to silence most but there were now whispers and an underlying current of agitation in the crowds. The officer was then directed to continue.

"The enemy fleetmaster then proceeded to bombard our fleet with missiles that stripped our shields. We fired our own weapons in response but these Council ships flew as fast as our own fighters. Near the end this Turian fleetmaster then rammed his own ship into the fleet's flagship and using clever tactics, had it destroyed in minutes." The entire council room was starting to simmer from all the pent up frustration.

"Obviously, these Citadel Council species must be taught a lesson." Regret finally spoke up. He actually the youngest of the Hierarchs, and the most hotheaded to boot. "They have insulted this Covenant and everything it stands for. They assaulted a fleet sent to do its sacred work. They must be punished."

"While a punishment must be met out of course," Mercy began to argue, "would it not be better to bring them into this divine Covenant by more peaceful means instead. They cannot be saved and brought to the path of salvation if we burn their worlds indiscriminately. They must be made to fear the divine retribution of the gods, not revile them."

"Peace." Truth ended the argument before it began. "Both of you are right that some form of punishment must be made. But preventing these aliens from siding with the humans is more important in the short term. That is why a message will be sent to these members of the Citadel Council. Arbiter, as a loyal servant of this Covenant you will send this message. We will send you the details of it later on and you shall leave within the day with a number of ships. Do you understand?"

"I do, your holiness. The message will be delivered." The Arbiter bowed low in response to Truth's words.

"Good. The High Council is hereby adjourned and will reconvene upon learning what the Citadel Council's response is to our message."

Zo was busy staring at the three prophets in anxiety. Something rankled him for some reason. Sending the Arbiter to establish peace talks was not unheard of. But Ripa 'Moramee didn't fit the right profile for diplomat and something in him said that Truth meant more than simply sending a message. Whatever it was, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Not even the former Hierarch Tolerance, who was sitting a few rows away, would have been able to do anything about it. The Hierarch's words were practically law no matter what anybody said. The meeting today was obviously of importance to all but overall, the Hierarchs had already decided the path they would take. So it was with a heavy mind that Zo quietly left the High Council Chambers to head to his home. He had to look something, anything up about this new coalition of aliens. But more specifically, he had to know what Truth was planning. Even as he stepped out of the doors alongside so many other councilors, he suddenly came to a realization about himself. He didn't trust the prophets anymore. What had once been a clear belief in the Covenant's mission during the war was now hopelessly muddled. Even the war against the humans was becoming questionable to him and the addition of this Citadel Council was now confusing everything. His eyes shifted quickly from side to side. For the first time in a long time, he didn't see people but potential liabilities, dark movements in the shadows. He could no longer trust anyone, because after so many years of following the faith, he now held a seed of doubt within him. He didn't believe in his Hierarchs and by default, it meant he didn't believe in the Covenant's mission. The bright path he was once walked was now covered in shadows. He would find what he could but if everything went well, then at least he could rest easy in the end. But if not…well?

He shook his head to rid himself of his darkening thoughts. He hated himself for this but he had his reasons and he had to know. So with trepidation he set forth toward his home from the council chambers. As he left, he wondered when did things becoming so confusing. After all he was the Prophet of Clarity. He should know in his soul what was truth and lies. He realized again the irony of the situation he was subjected to compared to his usual nature that earned him his title.

"Prophet of Clarity" indeed!" He snorted quietly in distaste at what was surely the Forerunner's attempt to turn his life into a practical joke. "Oh, the irony. Why don't you find some clarity of your own!" With that final angered whisper to himself, Zo Reskan headed down the street and disappeared amongst the crowds of _High Charity._

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 **900 Hours, February 28, 2541 (Military Calendar) / The Citadel, Serpent Nebula**

He didn't know where he was. He didn't remember how he got here. All he knew was that it was peaceful to an extent. Sure there was nothing but it was like the comfort of sleep. Nothing but an empty, silent, torpor that reigned over most of the senses. The only thing that seemingly worked was the feeling of a warm fluffiness, much like a bed. But it was so much deeper than that. It was a rest that he found enjoyable and never wanted to wake up from if he even could in the first place. Of course the spirits must have had other plans in store for him. A sound came to mind, distant soft, and echo-y, not unlike the voice of someone from the distant end of a tunnel or cavern. The voice was calm but there was something familiar about it and something sad too.

"Come on, you have to wake up. Don't you die like this."

Die? He was dying? That forced him to try and stir. The voice was bringing up memories that he felt like he forgot. He had a brother. He had been in battle. He was…alive? He had to wake up. Instantly, he began heading toward the sound of the voice. The torpor that once held him down began to shake off. The darkness that had overcome his mind was now turning into a grey fog and in the distance, a light at the end of the tunnel. He instantly forced himself towards the source, hoping all the while that he wasn't actually heading toward the afterlife. The soft, bright light slowly began to fill his sight, washing over the greyness that was most likely his unconscious mind before it finally overcame everything. He didn't know when he had opened his eyes because the light proceeded to blind him before everything began to come into focus. As he moved his head to look around, he realized that he was in a bed with a nightgown. There was a steady beep in the background and looking over it all he understood where he was. He was in a hospital. He didn't know how long he stayed like that, only wondering how he got here in the first place before the door to his room swung open.

"Yes nurse, I will call out if anything happens." A voice called out before the owner stepped in and swung his head toward the bed. His eyes grew wide and his mandibles hung open in shock at what he saw before him.

"Desolas?" Saren asked.

"Good morning to you too brother. You might want to close your mouth if you don't want to catch bugs in it." Desolas taunted him good naturedly. Saren instantly shut his mouth but what he did next shocked Desolas. He rushed over and hugged him. Now mind you it wasn't a very close hug considering Desolas was laying down and undoubtedly injured plus neither cared for showing signs of affection, but Saren never hugged anybody really. Sure, they expressed their support and care for each other in various ways as brothers, but openly showing any signs of care like most families or friends were kind of beyond them both. Which was why Desolas could only lightly pat Saren on the back, unsure at what the heck had happened to make Saren feel like this in the first place. Saren seemed to realize what had happened as well and promptly let go of Desolas before sitting down in the chair next to the bed.

"As much as I really appreciate seeing my brother again, could you please tell me how I got here and why you just hugged me?"

"Sorry, but after what just happened, I'm just glad you woke up at all. The doctors said that you came close to dying on the table after we got you. Frankly it was a miracle you survived."

"Saren, can you please explain what happened?" Desolas sat up and put a slight edge to his tone to make sure Saren understood. Saren's expression shifted from brotherly concern to that of a soldier who looked disturbed at telling the truth.

"You rammed the _Dauntless_ into the enemy flagship and dumped your charge into it." Saren began.

"Yes, I remember that. What happened after?"

"I wasn't there mind you but I learned all this from the reports and videos captured of the fight. The enemy flagship's engine overloaded and the whole ship exploded while the _Dauntless_ was getting away. You weren't at a far enough distance at the time and the explosion would have torn your own ship apart had the kinetic barriers not come online at the last second. They were able to take the worst of the damage but the _Dauntless'_ engines were still knocked out and most of the side exposed to the explosion was either melted down or blown apart as a result. The rest of the Covenant fleet would have finished you off if reinforcements from the relay hadn't arrived when they did."

"So we won?" Desolas questioned.

"Yeah, we won. It's been two weeks since then but Shanxi is safe and the remaining Covenant both on the ground and in space were either killed or driven off. Even got a new toy during the fight." Saren pulled out the handle before turning on the plasma sword with a flick. Desolas gazed at it before chuckling at the sight even as Saren shut the sword down.

"Well, that will certainly come in handy. I'm surprised the Council let you keep that."

"After the battle, most of the troops had scavenged any Covie tech they found lying around. The Council's R&D teams, especially the STG, have been busy non-stop trying to work around the stuff we just gathered on the ground.

Both Saren and Desolas let off a chuckle at the thought of those Salarian scientists wracking their brains around the workings of plasma technology and probably pulling on their horns in the process. Even as their chuckles faded however, a thought occurred to Desolas.

"What happened to my men?" he asked.

Saren's smile dropped and he was back to that soldier that looked like he had bad news he didn't want to deliver. "Your stunt saved the remaining ships and their crews from destruction. They're doing fine for the most part."

"But my crew?" Desolas pressed on.

"When the Covenant flagship exploded, most of your remaining crew were either burnt by the plasma or flung everywhere like rag dolls. I'm sorry to say that most of them died from either plasma burns, space exposure, broken bones, and punctured organs." Saren slowly spilled out.

"All of them?" Desolas looked like he was at a loss.

"No, some of them made it but it will be difficult for them. Many are bedridden and were bleeding out before they were stabilized. Even if they all fully recover, they will be unlikely to fight again."

"What do you mean?"

"Many of them, including yourself, had to be placed into drug induced comas and operated on immediately just to keep them alive. Others have lost limbs and organs and are currently on life support. Even still, many more died on the operating table. You were actually one of the luckiest out of all of your remaining crew still alive."

"How so?" Desolas wondered how bad it was for him compared to all the others so far.

"Lift up your left arm." Was Saren's only response. Desolas did as he was told and instantly saw what he meant. His entire left arm had been replaced with a robotic version. A hastily put together robotic version by the looks of it.

"How?"

"From what I understand from the doctors, when the shockwave hit the _Dauntless_ ,you were instantly thrown into the wall. Your head actually hit a terminal which cracked your skull and caused your brain to swell, hence the coma. Parts of the wall and ceiling collapsed on you breaking many of your bones. Your left arm was the worst part. It had been completely mangled and you were bleeding out, so they had to cut it off or they would lose you. You were in surgery for days before they finally got to stabilize you and even then they believed you wouldn't wake up. They had to replace it, along with many other bones with robotics as soon as possible to help you recuperate." As soon as Saren had explained what happened, Desolas just collapsed into bed with a sigh. How bad off was he? How long before he could get out of this place?

"How soon?" He groaned out.

"What?" Saren didn't understand.

"How soon until I get out of this bed and back into the field?"

"Desolas, you were just wounded heavily in battle. The doctors say it could take a month for you to even get out of bed and it would be double that for you to go through physical therapy and getting the arm to fully sync with your nervous system. Of course that won't take as long as the cloning."

"Cloning?"

Saren shook his head. "The humans have mastered the art of cloning just as much as us just at a slightly quicker rate. They can recreate entire bodies in a matter of weeks instead of months if they wanted to although it's just as much against the law there as it is here." Saren waved his arm around as if he were brushing away a stray thought or annoying bug. "Point is that they brought some of their tech here to allow us to try and clone new limbs and organs. It's never been done on aliens before so they're testing it out but the results are already promising. If things work out, then you can have your original arm reattached to you completely healed though it would still take a slightly longer time than keeping to the robotic arm. Still less likely to have problems with the cloned arm and other replacements though."

"I'll keep the robotic ones, thanks." Desolas answered immediately. Saren looked at him with a questioning look.

"Why? I understand it might take longer for you to get out of her with the clone replacements than you would like but it would still be your own flesh and blood. Metal is probably too chafing and it could be subjected to electrical faults or EMPs. Then it would be completely useless to you."

"I can't afford to wait longer for a cloned arm when millions are threatened every day." Desolas sat up again and stared at his younger brother. "The Covenant just wiped out more than two thirds of my fleet, killed most of my crew, and attempted to butcher a planet full of innocents plus our own soldiers and the ambassadors, not to mention you." Desolas collapsed back into bed with a hand covering his forehead before he put that down to continue. "The worst part is that even if we wanted to stay out of this, we are already involved. The Covenant will come after us and with their slipspace drives, they can strike anywhere at any time. The defenses we would usually place at the relays are useless in this context." Looking once again at the robotic replacement that was his left arm now, Desolas continued. "We have to fight now or more will suffer the same fate."

"Well, that might be a problem." Saren said. Desolas took another look at his brother as if to question what he meant.

"Why?"

"The Council has still not fully decided whether or not to declare war."

"WHAT!" Desolas roared. Saren instantly startled at his brother's scream.

"The economy is ready to be switched to wartime. The armies and fleets are partially mobilized and ready to go to full mobilization due to this. Everybody is prepared for the probability of war, but despite this attack, the loss of life, and what may happen in the next few months, the Council is essentially divided on the matter. Sparatus wants to declare war immediately. Tevos wants to try opening peace talks again without the humans or someone more temperamental to interfere in the talks considering what happened when you answered them first." Desolas winced at that, remembering the insults he hurled at the Sangheili fleetmaster. "Jodril meanwhile is leaning toward going to war but is trying to gather as much information together about these Covenant and their technology as possible so we don't have to sacrifice more people this time. But it doesn't mean she isn't against the idea of peace either which is why she is stalled at the moment."

"Are they insane! There can be no peace with these monsters and waiting gets us nowhere." Desolas spat. "You saw what I saw. Why won't they do anything?"

"Spirits know why. Point is that were essentially stuck like this until they get a majority vote."

"Ugh." Desolas ran his hand through his fringe at this. The Council was going to cost them time and lives if something wasn't done and soon. He then decided he might as well do something. "Get me out of this bed and over to the Citadel Tower."

"WHAT!" This time it was Saren's turn to scream. "You just woke from a two week long coma, you've lost your left arm and several other bones in your body plus a lot of blood, and you need a lot of physical therapy before they would even consider releasing you."

"I know," Desolas said with an air of finality. "But if we don't do something fast, then the Covenant will gain the upper hand in this war. The time for diplomacy has passed. War is upon us again and it will be even worse than the Rachni Wars and Krogan Rebellions combined if we don't do anything to stop it. I need the Council to see the reasoning in that but to do that I need to get out of this Spirits damned bed."

Saren brooded over it for a bit. While Desolas was right and he did have the authority to do so, he could still get in trouble with the Council for even attempting to break his brother out of the hospital before he was fully healed. The Council wanted Desolas alive and well, not dead and bleeding on the ground. But the more he thought it over, the more he realized that Desolas was right. Something had to be done.

"Alright then. I'll break you out of here. But you're going back as soon as possible, deal?" Saren wouldn't brook no argument on Desolas getting the treatment he needed.

"Deal."

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 **1030 Hours, February 28, 2541 (Military Calendar) / Citadel Tower, The Citadel, Serpent Nebula**

Once again, Jodril was internally debating the pros and cons of trying to render herself unconscious in some way. How many times it would take, she wondered, to bash her head against the desk before she would inevitably fall into blissful sleep, if only to rid herself of this blasted headache and the two sources that caused it. Said sources which were promptly arguing (again) about some aspect of the looming war. While the pros would include a temporary leave of duty in response to this and no more daily headaches that would leave her turning in her sleep, the cons said that she would have to deal with the matter sooner or later. Gods, spirits, whatever existed, knew what these two idiots would do when she was gone and she didn't want to be declared mentally unfit to boot. Besides, she ran out of sleeping pills to spike everyone's drink with.

"Really Sparatus, did you have to send messages asking for help from the Terminus Systems for this." The calm and somewhat reasonable voice of Tevos spoke.

' _Too stuck in her old ways to even consider the fact that peace may no longer be an option.'_ Jodril thought disgustedly. Tevos was a conservative and a compromiser. Before she was a councilor, she had been a diplomat. When the Krogan, Batarians, or anyone else became too problematic, they would send her in to help lower tensions or make treaties. Her platform for election to the Council had been to establish peace between the Council and numerous factions in the Terminus Systems which had supported the Batarians in the war against the Council. A process which helped reduce pirate attacks on Citadel colonies and ships and weakened the Batarians own influence in the region. This would later force the Batarians to reintegrate with the Council once more, which resulted in a more stringent policy with more profound consequences for slavers and pirates supported by the Hegemony. A policy that didn't always worked but had worked well enough for 400 years. The point was that her background made her an excellent diplomat during peace, but a poor leader during wartime.

"We need all the help we can get in this. The Covenant will move against us at one point or another. Better we have allies besides the humans to fight in this then stand alone." The impassioned and youthful voice of Sparatus broke through Jodril's muddled thoughts.

' _Another poor soldier that would have served better in the field than in the political arena.'_ Unlike Tevos, Jodril pitied Sparatus. The man had been a high ranking member of the Hierarchy military before he entered politics. He had mostly seen action against slavers and pirates and one attempt at peaceful overtures by his commanding officer had once resulted in the deaths of most of his men. Something that forced him to take action which resulted in a promotion. While he knew peace and even alliances of convenience were a possibility in some cases, he always remained skeptical of everything unless there was obvious proof. His own election platform had been for a harsher stance on pirates and slavers while expanding the military might of the Council and its members. Something that obviously benefited the Hierarchy considering its position as the main military arm of the Council. Whenever he was forced to accept the truth of claims he previously dismissed, is just as dismissive of any recriminations against him, instead shifting the focus back to more pressing issues at hand. He often claimed the Council used their authority in the best way they know how to look after their own people in times of adversity, and often expressed personal gratitude on behalf of himself and of Palaven when the situation arises. In short, a perfect soldier and a consummate politician during times of strife but he could be a bit harsh and criticizing either in public and private like any other soldier.

Despite her personal feelings on both the people and on the matter at hand, Jodril was well known for keeping her head on her shoulders and not allowing her emotions or past experiences to get the better of her. Both fellow councilors had good reasons to not go to war but get ready for it. Both had experience in their respective fields and could understand the signs of conflict. But both were not thinking clearly or seeing the whole picture. This two week long argument which had resulted in only half measures had to end at some point and frankly it had to end now before she started considering the pros and cons of hiring assassins just to end this infernal migraine. Unfortunately for her, it only got worse as two familiar figures burst through the door, one with his right arm over the other's shoulders and bringing along an IV drip while being carried by his left hand.

' _Oh heavens above, now what?'_ Jodril was already regretting not getting her pills earlier. She rather have used them to knock herself out by this point.

"What is this I hear about not declaring war yet?" Desolas audibly growled out toward the Council as he dragged himself away from Saren's grip.

"We are not warmongers like the Terminus Systems. We are trying to prevent an escalation of hostilities and that will occur if we declare full mobilization." Tevos replied to Saren.

"Only because you don't want the rest of the Asari to lose the what power you gained since the Rebellions." Sparatus accused. "The Republics are already complaining about their lost status as a galactic superpower due to humanity's and the Covenant's appearance. Are you hoping to prevent us from joining in the hopes that the humans will be more malleable to accepting what you want. "

"You remember that it's always the Turians who suffer the most in warfare. Your military suffered the most against the Krogan, the Batarians, and the Terminus. Your man here is also the one who have forced the situation at Shanxi. Are you actually supporting the idea of sending more people to die in a war we may not have to get involved in; that your soldier here may have started in the first place I might add; when peace might be the better option here?" Tevos pointed out.

"Would you have preferred the ambassadorial party and flotilla you sent, die to religious fanatics?! What about your allies, your people's colonies, all those unborn children? Billions of humans have died already and hundreds of Council species lie dead with them. Whether the Covenant attack us or not, do all those lives and their sacrifice not mean anything to you!" Desolas roared.

"We would have actually preferred it if you didn't drop us into this situation. Why do you think the Asari are always the ones to officially make first contact? Because in most cases, the rest of you create some galactic incident by making first contacts yourself. You should have waited for Benezia to establish proper contact!" Tevos argued. The conversation was getting even more heated than it was before and was close to breaking out in a fight.

"ENOUGH!" Jodril shouted. Her sudden outburst startled the other four people in the room, who looked at her with wide eyes. The Salarian councilor felt her age come up on her and proceeded to close her eyes and breath. After properly relaxing from the sudden release of emotion, she looked at both her colleagues. "I know both of you have your reasons and both are good enough in normal circumstances. But if war is upon, it will be a war that the Council and its members hasn't faced since its inception. The military is only partially mobilized, the economy is starting to fluctuate due to the people's fears, the diplomats that we plan to send are still sitting on their collective behinds waiting, and we haven't even made contact with these aliens anyway and so far we aren't doing anything to change that. We don't need these half measures! I vote that we authorize full military mobilization and send the ambassadorial party under heavy guard into Covenant space to at least attempt contact immediately. At the very least it should satisfy the lot of you and we can take care of any smaller problems that come along whether war occurs or not. Can you not agree on that?" The councilors and admiral looked at the Salarian councilor before looking away in embarrassment. It wasn't often that such high ranking people appeared as chastised children.

"Jodril is right." Tevos began even as she turned toward Sparatus. "No matter what happens, we shouldn't have just stopped at just half-measures. Turians know more about warfare than most so I'll respect your decision to bring the military to full mobilization and gather more allies if we can."

"Just as I accept that you just want to see our people safe from potential harm." Sparatus said in reply. "Peace is an important goal and the loss of the men and women who've served with distinction should not discourage our attempts at making peace with our enemies."

"Then we're in agreement?" Jodril asked.

"Yes." The two councilors answered.

"Good, I've had the messages and alerts prepared for such an event and they're being sent now. At the very least we will be prepared for either war or peace."

"That's all well and good." Desolas interjected. "But what about the humans. They're expecting some form of help beyond simple economic support, technological exchanges, or opening the borders to allow the humans through."

"Well," Sparatus began, "If we don't declare war, I was hoping that we could join by proxy. We have the resources to sway a number of mercenaries and pirates in the Terminus. We could also send the Spectres in as a way to subtly show that we support the humans. All the while we claim that we are keeping our hands clean in the matter. After all we can't be blamed for allowing volunteers to help the humans in one form or another. Maybe if we're careful enough, we can even convince the Batarians to get involved in this themselves. The damage they might suffer could allow us to finally step in and fix their whole misbegotten society from the top-down. It allows us to help the humans in a more direct manner than simply providing for refugees while not getting bogged down in the entire conflict ourselves.

"And if we do come under attack?" Desolas growled out. He didn't appear happy about the way things we're going. He probably preferred the Council to declare war instead. Well it was the best he could come up with now and frankly, if he played his cards right, he could do plenty to help the humans thanks to his position as an admiral.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Sparatus answered. "As a civilized society, we don't declare war on everybody just because of those who've died. If we did, we would have been at war with most of the Terminus Systems by this point." Still seeing the anger on Desolas' face about the situation, he added. "We owe it to the families of those who died at Shanxi to not see the rest of their loved ones being sent to some distant battlefield and never return." Desolas promptly groaned at the argument and Jodril smirked in realization that Sparatus had essentially won the conversation. "Now please go back to the hospital. If you want to fight, then you will have to be in shape to do so."

"Yes sir." Desolas groaned out. He was about to leave, when a beeping sound filled the room. All eyes in there traced the sound to Saren who promptly looked at his arm where his omni-tool popped up. They assumed that it must be some sort of alert related to Spectre business at first but then they noticed Saren's eyes grow large and his mandibles spread apart in a way that indicated shock. His arms were beginning to tremble.

"Spectre Arterius is everything alright?" Tevos asked hesitantly at what she was seeing. Saren rarely lost composure in such a noticeable way.

"It's…it's gone." Saren's only words finally came out in a stutter. Whatever he got had shaken him far more than he usually let on. Amongst all of them however, Desolas was the only one who could read Saren like a book. Saren never got this scared. This was big.

"What's gone?" Sparatus asked in confusion. Saren only turned toward the screen in the room and turned it on with a wave of his omni-tool. The sounds that greeted the room only confirmed what all the others had secretly feared but never wished to consider. What they saw would undoubtedly scar those who watched it for years and that's for those who were only watching the events that occurred. The voice of the Asari reporter onscreen filled the room, struggling to find words.

" _Hello and if you are just joining us, we have terrible news. Roughly a few hours ago, the Asari colony of Asteria came under attack by aliens that have been confirmed as the Covenant. The colony's defense systems were easily swept away before the Covenant proceeded to send out a recording which I shall play here._

The image soon showed the picture of an Elite in bright, silver armor, his face contorted in such a way as to express both disgust, anger, and perhaps even a sick pleasure due to his fanaticism.

 _::To the alien race of the Citadel Council, my name is Ripa 'Moramee, Arbiter of the Covenant. Because of your attempts to show solidarity with the humans, we wish to send you this message.::_

Onscreen, the Covenant ships began firing down at the planet. The councilors and brothers could only stand and watch in horror, at the destruction of all of Asteria's settlements and with it, the entire population. This continued for quite some time before the northern and southern latitudes around the poles of Asteria were nothing but glowing molten glass and rock. Tevos was wide-eyed with a hand on her mouth to prevent the sorrowful moaning she would have made. After the glassing was complete, the screen changed to show the Arbiter again.

 _::Your ruling government has interfered one too many times already with the Covenant's work. Understand this, the humans' deaths are inevitable as decreed by both our gods, the Forerunners, and their voices here on the mortal plane, the Hierarchs. We will butcher every single human, male, female, elder, and child, no matter where they may hide or flee to. Should you choose to side with them, should you choose to hide them, this shall be your fate. Your precious worlds will burn until there is naught but glass and ash and your families will be slaughtered down to the last child as punishment. The Hierarchs however wish to give you a chance to change your minds. Stay out of this war. Do not try to help or support the humans in anyway. We will leave you be until this war is finished. If you are lucky, you may even be able to join our Holy Covenant and join us as we go to meet our gods. But if you choose to join with the humans, then you will needlessly suffer along with them. Take heed members of the Citadel Council, for the fate of Asteria can and will be your own should you choose wrong.::_

" _That was from the last transmission we received from Asteria. No other transmissions, signals, or pictures have been received and no known survivors have passed through the relay. We're assuming that…all members of the colony are lost. For those of you who have relatives or friends there…I'm sorry."_

The reporter's face appeared to be close to crying before the program changed. But nobody was focused on that, they were all in states of shock. Suddenly, the sound of glass breaking and falling to the ground was heard and all eyes turned to see Tevos with the remnants of a glass cup in her now bleeding hand. Sparatus' military instincts kicked in and he proceeded to get a first aid kit from the nearby wall to staunch the bleeding. Even as he began the process of picking out the shards to begin closing the cuts, Tevos broke the silence that had settled back in.

"I suppose it all wouldn't have mattered in the end?"

"What do you mean?" Sparatus asked.

"Hmph. I mean that even if we didn't argue about this all week, so few patrols go out as far as the Hades Nexus. The moment that alarms we're raised, we would have been too late to do anything about it. Asteria would have still been gone and more lives needlessly lost perhaps. Hindsight is funny like that." Tevos sounded more unsure of herself with every word. Her eyes were misting over. Her hand was reaching for the decanter filled with Thessian brandy and a another glass. She was visibly struggling not to cry. "I guess the decision has been made for us, hasn't it? We're going to war." The last sentence came out in a simple statement. It was the closest Tevos came to putting on her politician face even as she raised the brandy to her lips and sipped slowly.

"Unfortunately, yes." Jodril answered anyway in a somber tone before asking. "Did you know someone there?"

"My…my daughter. She was…going to be one of the supervisors for the settlement. I…I don't know if she…" The tears that threatened to come finally came pouring out. Sparatus merely finished fixing Tevos' hand before motioning for everyone to join him outside leaving the Asari councilor to weep.

"Desolas, get to the hospital now. We're going to need you in the coming days." The Arterius brothers simply nodded and shambled off in response. "Jodril," Sparatus began as soon as they were out of earshot of Tevos. "I need you to send out messages to every species and ally we have out there. Gather the ambassadors in the main chambers and send out the drafts. I want every single potential asset we have to be mobilized. If the Krogan ambassador wants to haggle then, if need be, reduce the Genophage by 30% for the war.

"All done and sent." Jodril had been way ahead of Sparatus but proceeded to face him and ask, "What about Tevos?"

"Leave her be for a few minutes." Sparatus said looking back at the room they left. "In a few days, there will be people like her who might not have the luxury to shed tears for their lost ones." With those final grim words, the two remaining councilors left the hall to prepare for the war ahead.

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 **Hello again internet. Finally finished my next chapter, phew. I'll be honest, this one felt kind of forced or incomplete to me. May have been because I procrastinated a bit for the last two weeks but in all honesty, I'm not sure. I also wanted to write a little less cause the last chapter was undoubtedly the longest one I ever typed. Got to pace myself if you know what I mean. So yeah kind of sad near the end. Obviously, I don't know if Tevos does have a kid but considering she is a matriarch in canon, she could have had one or more. Decided to give her that emotional push where she didn't really have a choice but to go to war. As for the location, it was the best choice I could come up with to shut up any other Asari politicians that could have hampered Tevos considering that Asteria is an Asari colony and the Citadel Council equivalent of Harvest (just not as good as Harvest of course). Also Ripa 'Moramee, well I'll be honest. It is an AU just as much as it is a crossover of course and I kind of liked Ripa in Halo Wars even if he was an asshole. Just felt that they could have done more with him. So here, he survived though obviously not unscathed. Also, Desolas got to live. The poll didn't work so the reviews count as votes. That will be standard procedure for me from now on. So the war is gearing up and the players are now in place. Tune in the next few weeks to see where this is going. Leave a comment (it will enable me more I think).**

 **Vohlm: Thanks your idea actually helped me here when I wanted to find a way to bring him back. Kudos to you.**

 **Kingslops: Thanks, I hope to hear from you more about this.**

 **DoctorWhoopass: Three things. First: Awesome name you got. Second: I do plan on Desolas playing a major role if not being the face of this alliance. Third: Which tropes are you talking about because I do love breaking tropes?**

 **Major Simi: Thank you for the compliment. I didn't know if I was being to technical or in-depth. You know how some people actually get bored because people can over-explain things. That was a major fear for me at the time I wrote that chapter.**

 **I am Lauren: I'm planning on making an entire entry / book based on nothing but codex entries for this universe. Don't know when I'll publish it but I'll get around to it soon.**

 **Sam: Your wish is my command.**

 **Reichenfaust: Not for a good while. If your patient, I promise you will start seeing things though.**

 **SpawnX66: I wanted to make the Council interesting you know. Because whereas the Covenant are probably more warmongering (damn you hypocritically named Hierarchs) the Council are searching for a peaceful resolution. It should be what all advanced civilizations strive for actually. An attempt to find peace until the very end when you finally know it won't work.**

 **Guest: Good question. I prefer calling the entire thing, the Halo Wars for obvious reasons. After all, future events like the Reaper Invasion will also be on a galactic scale so naming it the Galactic War is just not imaginative enough to me.**

 **Random Question: Interesting question. In my opinion, the Hive wouldn't join as anyone's ally. They would just attempt to exterminate everyone in the name of the Darkness. On the highly improbable chance that they did ally with Humanity, a lot of people would be screwed whether they won against the Hive or not. Also no I haven't played Destiny, but I want to so much. Just don't have the time, money, or possibly the right console.**

 **Guest: Sorry but that is not going to come in yet. I do have plans for it, I honestly do, but when you finally see evidence of portals, it might not be because of a portal gun (although I might do something about that, thank you for the comment).**


	6. Chapter 6: Escalation

Chapter 6: Escalation

 **All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal. – John Steinbeck**

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 **1100 Hours, July 26, 2552 (Military Calendar) / ONI Sword Base, Babd Catha Ice Shelf, Eposz, Reach, Epsilon Eridani System**

On certain days, Nick sometimes felt like cursing his rotten luck for living in this time just to fight through this goddamn war. It was common amongst many veterans of the war, both human and Council alien alike, who had lived and fought through 10 or more years of continuous warfare. Nick himself had already passed his 30th birthday months ago with nothing to celebrate for it. In a normal situation, he would have been rather distant or cold, much like the soldiers he worked with. He had been fighting this war for most of his life and the statistics said that it was unlikely he would survive till the end. Others would be tired of the constant struggle, tired of losing what mattered, tired of watching every planet they fought on turned to glass and ash. It seemed to make all the trails and sacrifices they suffered through since Harvest seemingly worthless. Even the addition of the Council races didn't seem to help much. Sure after Asteria was attacked over a decade ago, the Citadel Council races banded together with the humans. The Terminus Systems later joined in under the banner of Omega when several independent worlds were attacked as well, often supplying mercenaries and supplies in the way of armies. But the Covenant just kept pushing onwards like a steamroller. The death toll just kept mounting and many just cut themselves off even more to avoid falling into despair and depression. Soldiers were expected to maintain a degree of emotional distance but a sense of hopelessness was beginning to permeate the allied forces in the face of onslaught.

But Nick usually didn't feel that way during times like these. Nick hated feeling depressed and hopeless in these situations and he saw how at often times, those same feelings sometimes drove men to recklessness. He had been fighting in this war for almost 20 years and his sister had been doing so for even longer. He didn't give up easily and he refused to lose hope then or now, not when there were others that counted on people like him. The sight of just one family surviving because of him, had always lifted his spirits. But of course there would always be times, rare but still possible moments, when he felt like those other veterans out there. Times when even hopes and beliefs he didn't know he held on to were shattered like glass. One of those times had just recently occurred now and unfortunately, the reason was rather simple yet morally damaging all the same. Winter Contingency had been declared. The Covenant were on Reach.

At 10.5 light years from the Sol system, the Epsilon Eridani system where Reach was located, was located on Earth's metaphorical doorstep. Reach was the nexus for the UNSC military and the site of many military-industrial facilities and defenses including major shipyards which provided work, refits, repairs, and other important functions for most of the UNSC fleet. The planet was significant for being one of the largest producers of naturally occurring titanium, which was plentiful on the planet in rather massive amounts. Finally, not only was it commonly recognized for its status as a military fortress, Reach was also humanity's second most populous colony world. In short, the world of Reach was second to none but Earth itself. If something destructive had ever happened to the point of rendering the Sol System uninhabitable, Reach would become the new homeworld for humanity. Of course this had generated some rather arrogant ideas amongst the rank and file. Because of both Earth's and Reach's importance compared to the other 800 or so worlds that had been under UNSC control before the war, some came to believe that Reach and possibly even Earth, were untouchable. The war was seen and felt on both planets in various ways but it was through subtle changes and sights compared to what was seen on the war torn battlefields that consisted of whole planets near or at the front lines. Even Nick had unknowingly placed stock in the idea, even if he never consciously gave it credence. The fact that the Covenant were on Reach had been like a punch to the mental gut and showed just how much that false hope had been a lie to everyone who believed in it. If the Covenant were here, then it was obvious they knew its location and a massive fleet would arrive soon to take the planet. As a simple ODST, Nick could only hope and pray that the UNSC and Council would send reinforcements on time to defend one of their most important worlds.

That and that his sister would be fine in the process. Ana was here on Reach right now in fact, working on the _Pillar of Autumn_ as an Ensign. She had been assigned on the ship soon after the Second Battle of Arcadia and had even participated in the recent victory at the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV. Nick had also got redeployed after Arcadia though why he ended up here in this near frozen wasteland was unknown to him. Officially, he had ended up working at the ONI site, known only as Sword Base, to help run the ODST battalion guarding the base under the rank of Sergeant Major. Unofficially, Nick knew he was there to help protect whatever secrets the spooks running the base had here and to be nothing more than cannon fodder for the Covenant should they ever attack while the spooks inside would get away with anything valuable to them. He just didn't understand why it had to be him.

Regular circumstances would have had Nick walking around to take stock of the men today, ensuring their training was on schedule and they had adequate supplies. Today he was running around like a madman, ordering anybody he came across to get their gear immediately or get into positions. Only five minutes ago, a Covenant corvette had been detected heading toward the base and shortly after that, all communication was lost with the men stationed at Farragut Station and Airview Base. With those two outposts gone, the Covenant mercilessly swept the Sword Base's nearby airfield and were moving on the base itself. The attack had been a complete surprise (rather ironic in ONI's case) and nearly threw the defenders off guard. But the base's defenders wouldn't surrender so easily and in the process the entire base's guard had been forced to move at what would usually be considered triple time. Nick himself was grabbing his gun from the armory in the garage and moving as fast as he could toward the elevator. But before he could get to the closet path of egress to the base's atrium, the elevator doors slammed in his face.

"I can never get a break can I?" Nick growled under his breath. He would have to backtrack around the base's exterior courtyard to the door on the far side now just to get to the atrium. As he reached the closed garage doors, he pressed the button on the pillar next to the door. The doors slowly swung apart until they were fully opened and once they were, Nick moved toward the far end of the courtyard near the landing pads. A dozen other marines, ODSTs, and spooks of varying rank were all moving across the courtyard in different directions as well.

' _They're scrambling around like chickens with their heads cut off.'_ Nick thought as he watched the deployment of the troops continue while moving toward the doorway which existed on a secondary story balcony next to a shaded hallway. The movement of the men outside only seemed to validate his thoughts with everyone running into various places either to grab weapons, set up defenses, or contact their superiors or those men they commanded. The attack had truly been a shock to some of the spooks at ONI, some of whom arrogantly believed they had the best training and equipment in espionage. Nick would have smiled at the thought that somebody took the insufferable bastards down a peg if it wasn't for the fact that it was the Covenant who were attacking in the first place. Any further thoughts about the recent state of affairs about the base or ONI's incompetence in detecting the Covenant on Reach in the first place were instantly cut off the moment a whine began to build in Nick's ears. His head turned upward, towards the sky and the source of the noise itself. To his horror, a small group of Covenant banshees guarding an incoming group of phantoms, were moving toward the base rather quickly. The banshees were charging their cannons and Nick instantly flew toward the covered walkway nearby. He barely made it. Seconds after he threw himself behind some steel walls below the walkway, explosions rocked the courtyard and the building. Nick took an extra few seconds to check over himself before daring to look out. What he saw didn't shock him but it still sent chills down his spine.

The courtyard was in flames. Crates filled with supplies, stone barriers, and vehicles had been either tossed aside like toys, set on fire, partially melted, or just outright destroyed. Everywhere else, there were blackened marks where plasma had torched the ground like a large fire had been lit on top. There were also bodies. There weren't many areas that offered cover from aerial attacks in the courtyard and a good many defenders had been sadly unable to get to any cover in time. Those poor souls had been blasted away or burnt to death by the explosions and now lay on the ground in blackened and twisted states. There were probably, at the very least, two dozen armed soldiers and operatives that had been out here. When Nick looked out toward the courtyard, he only saw 5 other lucky soldiers who had survived and even they didn't seem to have escaped unscathed judging by their stunned expressions and the newly formed cuts and bruises they bore.

"Hey!" Nick called out before moving toward the nearest survivor quickly and promptly began shoving him around to both wake him up and get the man's arm around his neck. The soldier happened to be a middle aged African American with short black hair and based on the single silver bar on his armor, he was a Junior Grade Lieutenant of the Navy and he carried a MA37 Assault Rifle on his back. "Snap out of it and come with me. Those banshees might come back for a second round." Nick picked the soldier up by the arms and then proceeded to haul him back to the covered walkway where he had escaped. Looking behind him, Nick saw the other 4 survivors began to move toward his location as fast they could under the circumstances. He only hoped that they could move fast enough. But fate seemed rather unkind toward everyone today and Nick could only watch in horror as he saw two phantom dropships nearing the courtyard while two more turned toward the far side of the building to land troops inside the building itself.

"MOVE!" Nick practically screamed and the survivors were quick to do so upon seeing what was coming toward them. The phantoms began to fire but Nick's attempts to rouse the survivors had saved them from an early death. The survivors moved with as much haste as they could muster behind the small barricades. Nick and the soldier holding onto him got behind cover on the far side of the walkway that was far away from the main building just as the plasma bombardment came in and hit the courtyard. Nobody moved as fire rained down on random locations while Grunts, Jackals, and Elites now came out in the dozens, taking the gate and courtyard in front of the vehicle bay of the base. Nick's little group now only controlled one third of the courtyard and that third only included the covered walkway and the airpad right behind them that contained no aircraft. They wouldn't be able to hold this position with such an opening behind them for long and they couldn't get into the base through the nearby doors for some reason. All it would take to finish them all off was to land another phantom right on the airpad behind the defenders and essentially box them in. Nick looked around and fortunately for all of them, the Covenant in front of them didn't seem to have any backup coming in. The phantoms were also beginning to move away, having dropped their payloads and their pilots probably thinking that there were no survivors left now. Nick saw that amongst the incoming Covenant forces, was an Elite Ultra along with several Majors and Minors. The Ultra was one of the highest ranking members amongst the Covenant infantry and was second in rank only to an Elite General. Taking him out would throw the Grunts and Jackals into a state of confusion, at least until the Majors would restore discipline. Nick then turned toward the Junior Lieutenant next to him to see if he was aware at the most or alive at the least.

"Hey soldier, you still with us?" Nick whispered to the man.

"Yes, I am. What happened?" The soldier asked.

"Covenant bombarded us before we could get into defensive positions. You and the other soldiers here are the only survivors from the courtyard. You also happen to be the highest ranking officer here at the moment so we could definitely use your help. Sir." Nick explained while watching the LTJG gain his bearings before hefting his gun.

What's your name and rank soldier?" He asked as soon as he looked ready.

"Sergeant Major Nick Shepard sir." Nick introduced himself.

"Good to meet you. I'm Lieutenant David Anderson. Junior grade of course." The now named soldier supplied in kind before skipping right to the business. "So tell me what we got here?"

"We've got a little over half a dozen Elites, at least one of which is an Ultra, two are majors, and the rest being minors. There are also four Jackals with wrist mounted shields and over a dozen Grunts as well and there may be Covenant reinforcements further down the ramp near the main gate. All of them are currently searching the courtyard for any sign of survivors so they haven't spotted us yet but they will soon and any attempts to move from our position will give us away. Most of our weapons are either DMRs, Assault Rifles, or pistols, and a few grenades, none of which I think would be enough for an extended firefight." Nick rattled off as quickly as possible

"Good man. Now, I need you go to the other side of the walkway as quickly and quietly as you can. You men, what are your names and ranks?" Anderson turned toward the other 3 survivors.

"I'm Specialist Nelson and these are Corporals Brown and Allen." One of them answered.

"Got it. You men spread yourselves out along the barricade here. Specialist Nelson, take the center. Corporals, you get between me, the specialist, and the Sergeant Major here. Now you will wait until my mark and once you do, I expect you to fire with everything you got. Do you understand."

"Sir yes, sir." The soldiers replied before proceeding to go along the barricades to place themselves respectively. Nick then turned to the other human and the Asari.

"Everyone, get into positions and wait for my signal." The pair complied and after 30 seconds, Anderson contacted everyone over the radio so as to not draw attention.

"All of you in position?" He asked. The comms filled with the quite sounds of affirmatives. "Alright, on my mark we fire on the Grunts and Jackals first." Anderson answered before taking a breath and beginning the countdown.

"One." Nick begin to get tense.

"Two." His eyes narrowed to slits as he looked through the scope of his rifle.

"Mark." He pressed the trigger on his gun immediately and one of the Jackals instantly began to spasm.

The tension that built amongst the survivors had suddenly snapped like a rubber band wound too tight and everybody fired at will into the approaching hoard even as the Covenant began to fire back on their positions once they knew where the bullets were coming from. While some of the Jackals were able to get their shields up and thus save themselves from death and the Elites were protected by their own personal shields, a few lucky shots from the barricade had ended the lives of several Jackals and Elite Minors. The ones that obviously suffered the most however were the Grunts as large amounts of them suddenly either panicked or dropped dead from the surprise attack. That wasn't to say that they were all incompetent as several Grunts did stand their ground and fire back at the defenders. But the truth was that Grunts were usually cowardly creatures when surprised or lacking leadership and they also usually had access to some of the least damaging weaponry in the Covenant, such as the plasma pistol. The plasma pistol could be shot repeatedly for as long as someone could depress the trigger or could be left to charge for a few seconds and release one larger plasma burst that fried any electronics for a fifteen seconds. But in all honesty, the plasma from such weaponry wasn't dangerous when used by small numbers and many soldiers could afford to ignore it if they wanted and take one or two hits from the small arms fire. In fact, the only time plasma pistols actually proved to be a very serious danger was when the marines were in their power suits, in which case even the small plasma blasts from the Grunts could be more problematic, either melting down parts of the power suit or shutting the entire thing down entirely. That or when there were large amounts of Grunts and even Jackals armed with the weapon, in which case a hail of green plasma from a plasma pistol could be just as dangerous as half a dozen shots from an Elite's more powerful plasma rifle. As in the case here.

After at least half a minute of panicking, the Elite Ultra had been able to bring the Grunts under control again and the combined might of the Grunts and Jackals plasma pistols forced the defenders to take less risks and fire over the barricades without even seeing if they were aiming at some one. The minors and majors fired their own plasma rifles with far greater accuracy and speed than either the Grunts or Jackals. But it was the Ultra who caused the most problems for their little group. He constantly fired his own weapon at the barricade, which based on the red plasma, loud booming sounds, and constant rumbling it produced, was undoubtedly a Covenant Concussion Rifle. A Concussion Rifle's ammo, when fired of course, could produce an explosion about the size of a grenade but not of the same strength. However it had the added bonus of knocking things loose even more so than a grenade ever could. So when the Concussion Rifle's ammo hit the barricades, it proceeded to rip chunks of concrete out of the defenses and weaken the overall integrity. It also had the advantage of knocking around anybody who happened to be nearby. In this case it proved to be Specialist Nelson and Corporal Brown who were knocked out of position despite their attempts to bunker down. They wouldn't have been able to hold out long anyway because of the degradation of their barriers which had been heavily broken and melted down by concentrated bursts of plasma. The two men were forced out into the open and seconds later, their torsos were filled with plasma and needles and the two men promptly collapsed. Nick didn't know whether they were dead or merely wounded but if things continued like this, then it wouldn't matter if they won or not. The poor soldiers would probably bleed out by the time they could do anything, that is if they would even be able to. It was more important to focus on who was alive now, cruel as it sounded. So when the Ultra began aiming his rifle toward Allen's area, which happened to be right next to Nick's own position at the time, Nick jumped out of his cover and pulled Allen by the scruff of his armor behind the more secure metal cover of the lower walkway right before a red bolt of plasma struck the area Allen had been, demolishing the last of his defenses.

"Thanks." The grateful corporal replied as soon as he saw what remained of his former position.

"No problem! Just stay behind cover!" Nick replied over the din of the firefight. Three defenders were better than two but against a small horde of Covies, it was a last stand and Nick knew it. The Ultra didn't bother firing his Concussion Rifle again now that the humans were behind better defenses but he did order his troops to continue firing. As he watched, the Ultra also realized that he could easily force them out of their positions now. He ordered the Elites and Jackals under him to provide cover fire while five of the Grunts were to force them from their entrenched positions. The Grunts chosen for this, promptly began moving forward, firing at the humans all the while. With a small horde of Grunts was moving toward the bridge and attempting to force them back, things were starting to look even darker. The Covies combined firepower forced the three humans to hide more and more behind the relative safety of the steel supports.

"We have to retreat!" Anderson's voice ordered. "They're going to overrun us if we stay here!"

"We'll run out of room if we retreat!" Nick shouted back while pointing toward the launch pad behind them. There were crates placed about which could work in a pinch but beyond that was the wall of the building with a few garage doors that were currently locked down. They wouldn't be able to get to the far side before they were cut down, let alone get inside one of the garages.

"It's either this, or we die here!" Anderson replied while firing back at the Covenant. Nick couldn't help but agree. But either way, he knew it was the end. Even as the three of them fell back toward the crates, Nick knew that they wouldn't be able to hold their position their either. The Covenant's superior numbers would just force them back until they hit the wall. As he slammed himself behind a nearby crate, he couldn't help but pray to God that somebody would come to help them out or something. Anything. As cheesy as it sounded, they needed a miracle and they needed it fast. Just as the thought passed through his head, a series of explosions rocked the area around the gate into the base before two Hornets suddenly flew over the wall heading for the launch pad. One of the Hornets proceeded to land right on the pad before disgorging its contents which took the appearance of two Spartans.

The first Spartan to jump off the hovering vehicle wore light blue armor, carried a Tactical/Hard Case utility on their left thigh, and had a camera or video recorder attached to the right side of their helmet. Her armor looked slightly off, like the pieces didn't properly fit in some areas and Nick assumed that it was probably customized. But the most obvious thing that made this Spartan stand out was the appearance of their right arm which notably sported a robotic prosthetic in place of a flesh and blood right arm. Blue's companion on the other hand, was larger in stature but looked rather dull by comparison, as in he might not even stand out amongst other Spartans, dull. His armor was entirely steel grey in color and unlike the first one's armor, was composed of properly matched pieces which all seemed standard and fitted seamlessly with the suit. He had no robotic appendage unlike his comrade but he did carry a hard case leg attachment and a wrist-mounted UGPS on his right wrist. In short, he looked much like what Nick expected a proper Spartan to look like if they were in formation. Each of them carried two guns that were commonly known as the M392 Designated Marksman Rifle or DMR for short and an Assault Rifle as backup. Despite some small worry about Blue's prosthetic and Gray's blandness, they looked every inch like the great soldiers that the UNSC propaganda spouted were the best of the best and Nick could only stare at the sight before Blue turned to him.

"Close your mouth soldier and get your head back in the fight." She was a woman and she sounded much like a school teacher who was somewhat amused by the sight of an amazed ODST. Nick promptly shook his head in response and turned back toward the approaching Covies.

" _Huh. Guess God really does answer prayers."_ Nick wryly thought at the sight of the two experienced soldiers charging up the asphalt ramp and toward the defender's position original position near the walkway. Blue proceeded toward the lower part of the walkway while Gray moved up a taller ramp that led to the upper part of the walkway, both of them shooting down the Grunts that forced them from their position. Blue then proceeded to stoop down and check the two downed men that had been sadly left behind. Even as Nick, Anderson, and Allen got back in their former position, they looked at Blue who was covering one of the downed marines with a combination of biofoam and medigel before dragging them out of their open position. As Nick fired at the Covenant forces he noticed the Ultra attempting to give commands to the retreating Grunts. That was of course before the last two Jackals and two of the Elite minors promptly died from a bullet to the brain. Following the nearly unnoticeable trails of smoke, Nick was able to see that Gray had gotten onto the nearby balcony overlooking the courtyard and a grabbed a sniper rifle in the process. The Ultra and the majors promptly began firing on Gray's position who responded by hitting a nearby plasma coil which exploded and killed one of the majors. Nick, Anderson, Blue, and Allen began firing on the Covenant forces and even advancing as the more Covies fell to the bullets. The two Spartans proved to be just the right people for the job as the alien invaders fell one by one at a faster pace than before. The combined group then proceeded to push forward but as they passed a crate, one of the Elite Majors attempted to strike at Gray from behind but Nick, being behind Gray, instantly got close and shoved his gun into the Elite's mouth before emptying the remainder of his clip. Despite having personal shielding, anything moving slow enough can pierce a personal plasma shield and the effect were seen here as said major promptly fell to the ground within seconds, dead as a doornail, his shields having never activated thankfully. The gray Spartan turned to see the soldier who saved him and Nick couldn't help but feel that Gray grew immediately tense at the sight of him, as if he witnessed something strange. Nick only shook his head in acknowledgement and continued to move with the group as the Spartans and defenders began pushing toward the main entrance even as the remaining Covenant retreated.

As they turned the corner however, three more Skirmishers seemingly spawned out of nowhere and dashed to face the humans alongside the remaining Elite Ultra who was the only survivor. The three soldiers instantly engaged the three skirmishers while Blue and Gray Spartan lined up their guns on the Ultra. Nick, Anderson, and Allen all tried aiming for the Skirmisher's heads but they simply moved too fast to get a proper shot on them while the Skirmishers themselves moved ever closer to their targets, firing plasma pistols all the while. Nick didn't see how the other two took out their Skirmishers but it must have been up close and personal like he was about to. The Skirmisher tried to slash at his face with its clawed hand so Nick decided to go for a stupid move and instantly ran at the Skirmisher before tackling it to the ground and then swinging it against anything. He then proceeded to shoot his pistol into the Skirmisher's hand which contained the plasma pistol before emptying what was left of the clip into the torso. Blue and Gray meanwhile, had both aimed for the Elite Ultra's torso. Blue's continued fire and Gray's first two shots ended up taking the shields down before one more sniper round were placed in the Ultra's head. Overall, the fighting for the courtyard took almost 30 minutes and when it was finally over, it found the entire Covenant force within the base's outer walls dead. As Nick looked over the dead Covies, he heard Anderson call out to the survivors.

"Talk to me." He ordered.

The voice of Blue answered, "The courtyard has been cleared of all hostiles and we're moving toward the gate to help any survivors outside."

"My men at the walkway?" Anderson asked expecting the worst.

"They're lucky. Both Browns and Nelson aren't dead but they are wounded enough to require immediate medical attention. We already applied some of the medigel and biofoam we had on hand to help stabilize them for the moment and begin healing the worst of the damage. But they will need to be hospitalized ASAP."

"Thank you." Anderson let out a sigh of relief before turning to Allen. "Get to the garage and get some help for those two immediately."

"Yes sir." The corporal said before jogging off to get the required help for the wounded men. Now that this was done, the two soldiers turned toward the blue Spartan heading toward them.

"Lieutenant. Sergeant Major." Blue commanded. Once both Nick and Anderson were in front of Blue, Nick had time to look at the Spartans through his HUD, which could give him whatever info he needed about anybody or anything linked to a military database. His HUD instantly supplied him with the two Spartans designations and ranks and Nick subconsciously stood up a little straighter in response at what he saw. Most Spartans were obviously of higher rank then him usually, but he had never seen any that had been in the officer class until today at least. Gray, for example, was ranked as a simple Lieutenant and Blue was a Lieutenant Commander, both of which were higher than Anderson's own rank of Junior Lieutenant.

"Yes ma'am?" Anderson answered quickly in response.

"We need both of you here to help us to take care of any Covenant forces outside the main gate. We'll like up your coms with ours as a precaution." Blue said.

"Will do ma'am. We'll hold the line at the base entrance." Anderson replied to Blue before the four man team composed of two Spartans, a naval officer, and an ODST, headed for the gates. The four moved toward the gates which were already beginning to open up due to Sword Control's intervention a few seconds ago. As he stood at the gate, ready to get out and fight, Nick felt somebody looking at him. Turning his head, he saw Gray was staring intently at him for some reason or at least staring in his direction.

"Do you need something sir?" Nick asked in confusion. The way Gray looked at him was slightly disturbing to him, as if he were trying to solve a puzzle or riddle that Nick didn't know anything about. Upon being questioned by Nick, Gray merely pointed past Nick's direction prompting him to turn his head to see what he was pointing at. Under one of the concrete supports of the main gate, in an open steel case, lay a…wait.

' _Is that what I think it is?'_ Nick thought in a somewhat excited manner as he grabbed what was in the case. Blue's com answered his mental question immediately.

"Sword Control, I see a Target Locator. Any artillery support in the area?" It had been a long time since he saw one since their use in the battlefield was rather rare at this point in the war. Plus when they were in use, they were always used by a demolition specialist. But by God, when artillery was available in the local area it made a hell of a difference.

" _Limited, but we'll prioritize whatever you need, ma'am."_ Sword Control answered back over the radio in response. If this had been a video game, Nick would have jumped for joy. Instead he just smashed his giddiness at the find and looked at the screen to see how many rounds they had before handing the locator off to Gray, who was still staring intently at him for some reason.

' _Odd.'_ Nick thought but he brushed it aside as some Spartan quirk and began focusing on what lay outside of the main gate. Sword Base was built on a hill close to a cliff made by the ever present glacier in the area. The walls, both natural and man-made, were slick and sloped to a near vertical degree in many places or were blocked by boulders in certain areas, making the entire idea of climbing up into the base a rather short sighted and foolhardy one. The only way up, other than flying of course, was the main gate which led to a gentle slope that vehicles could pass through up to the main gate. Beyond the slope was a glade that mainly contained snow, ice, a few plants or blades of grass, boulders fallen from the surrounding cliffs, and muddy roads filled with tire tracks that went in two different directions on the opposite sides of the glade. Of course what really took up everybody's attention on the other side of the gate was two sights that sent small spikes of fear up Nick's spine. The first was the sight of the Covenant corvette beginning to fire on the distant airfield with its weaponry. The second and perhaps most important sight that took up everyone's attention thought was that of a single Troop Carrier Warthog driving toward the entrance at a very fast pace.

 _"3 Echo 57 heading back to base, we got enemy tangos on our six. How copy?"_ A voice broke through on the radio. Nick could only assume it was the Warthog below. But before anybody could do anything, a ball of plasma about the size of a UNSC Mongoose flew out from behind some rocks and impacted the Warthog. The vehicle and anybody inside it, instantly went up in a ball of flames and it wasn't long before the culprits who took out the Warthog appeared from both sides of the glade. A pair of purple colored Wraith tanks, floating over grass, mud, and snow alike, took position at the far end of the glade before turning toward the main entrance of the base. Despite the fact that he had been fighting in this war for over a decade now, Nick couldn't help but say one word to sum up the rather terrible turn of events.

"Crap."

The Wraiths promptly fired their plasma cannons and the mortars rose up in an arc before beginning to plummet back toward the earth, right into the spot the four defenders were standing. Everybody instantly threw themselves in every direction, any direction really, just to get away from the blue fiery deaths that were hurtling toward them. The four of them all got into cover just as the plasma mortars hit the ground in large, terrifying explosions of blue fire, melting the ground into glass and soot where they struck. In the seconds that the first two mortars struck the ground, the Wraiths simply began firing away again, both with their cannons and the Elites that were manning the turrets on top, filling the air with blue and generally making their little holdout amongst the boulders rather untenable.

" _Six!"_ Nick heard Blue's voice instantly come over the coms. _"Use the Target Locator on that Wraith!"_ Gray merely shook his head in acknowledgement before moving between the rocks to get a proper shot. The constant explosions would make it difficult for anybody to use a weapon in this place. But not for a Spartan In this case, Gray had been able to get a target lock on both of the Wraiths with the Locator when they got close together. Nick, Blue, and Anderson proceeded to fire on the gunners of both Wraiths while Gray was busy targeting them. Their small pincer movement kept the two Wraiths together long enough. A second later, a number of mortars from a nearby UNSC artillery position struck the spot the Wraiths were at. One of the Wraiths was outright destroyed by the bombardment. The other exploded seconds later in a chain reaction due to its closeness to the first. Point was that as soon as the mortars stopped, both Wraiths were nothing more than flaming wrecks.

' _Wow.'_ Nick silently praised the gray Spartan known as Six while whistling loudly at the sight. He saw that Target Locator's number. It only had two strikes to use at the time it was found and only one of them had been needed to take out two Wraith tanks at the same time. It took a rare amount of skill and determination to even destroy one for most UNSC soldiers.

' _Guess that's why their Spartans.'_

" _Outstanding!"_ Anderson's voice came over the coms at the sight of the two burning wrecks, breaking Nick's train of thought and the voice of Sword Control coming in over the radio soon got his attention.

 _"The old Farragut Station has its own comms array that should bring us back online with Command. Airview Base has an anti-air battery that will help clear the skies. We'll send a Warthog to help clean up."_ Not long after, a Pelican came into view, carrying what appeared to be a Gauss Warthog under it. The Pelican got close before promptly dropping the Warthog in front of the base's main gate. With the Warthog now in place, the Pelican flew off and the Spartans promptly walked toward it.

"We're going to need a third person to help us." Blue commented before turning toward Anderson and Nick. "Sergeant Major." She said. Nick stood straighter again when Blue began to address him. "Do you know the details of the nearby stations we'll be heading to?"

"If you mean Farragut and the AA station, then yes ma'am I know about them. Been stationed in those places too." Nick nodded.

"Congratulations then. You're our driver." Blue said. Nick began to gape while Blue turned to Anderson. "Get back inside the main base and help where you can Lieutenant. We'll be taking the Sergeant Major here."

"Of course ma'am." Anderson responded before turning toward Nick. "Good luck soldier. You might need it." He then proceeded to turn around and head back toward the courtyard. Nick didn't know him but in truth, he hoped that they might meet again someday. Nick then proceeded to head toward the Warthog and get in the driver's seat. Six was in the passengers next to him, wielding his sniper rifle from earlier. Blue on the other hand was in the back of the Warthog, manning the Gauss turret.

"AA gun is to the west, comms array to the east." Blue commented.

"So which way should we go?" Nick questioned looking at the two Spartans. Six merely pointed toward the western pass out of the glade.

"I agree, go for the gun." Blue put in her two cents. Nick nodded and began moving the Warthog toward the western pass. Not long after, they drove over a creek in the middle of the pass, it was here that they saw the first sign of the enemy in the form of a two Covenant Ghosts and several Grunts. The Grunts were rather easy as they were run over by the Warthog in seconds. The Ghosts were more of a problem. The vehicles were the equivalent of the UNSC's Mongooses but where many Mongooses were just simple vehicles, Ghosts had two small plasma cannons on their undercarriages to allow them to attack other vehicles. Nick swerved around one of the rocks even as the Ghost began to fire. The driver on one of the Ghosts attempted to follow around the rock but was suddenly blasted into bits by the Gauss cannon on the Warthog's back after getting stuck on a rock. The second was more cautious and quicker than the first and Nick led it on a wild chase around the pass before he made a hard turn that the Ghost couldn't correct that made it slam into the wall of Sword Base. It soon followed its brethren after being filled with numerous holes from the Gauss cannon. Nick breathed out a sigh of relief, rather happy about that since the damn Ghosts tended to be more of an annoyance to him compared to most others. At least it had been taken care of. Of course the Ghosts was just the first of their worries. Upon exiting the pass and reaching the hill overlooking the AA base, they were greeted with the sight of another two Ghosts, several Grunts and Elites gathered around the base, and the rather horrible view of the Covenant Corvette glassing the Airview Base where most of Sword Base's air force was located.

"That's the gun over there. Should be a reset control somewhere, get it online." Blue pointed out. Nick saw a large round gray metal turret in the middle of the buildings and agreed. It looked undoubtedly like a turret so that meant the stuff they needed to reactivate it would be at the turret or in the closest building. The two story building nearby would be the spot to put it. But first they needed to get through the throng of Covies standing in their way. Nick punched it on the gas and the Warthog sped down the hill toward the site. The Covenant tried to fire at the Warthog but most of their shots either missed, or just didn't cause any damage. And Blue's fire proved to be the more dangerous in this case as Grunts and Elites couldn't stand against the Gauss Cannon, even with personal shields. The two Ghosts were more of a challenge but Blue took care of them rather easily. As soon as the area around the base was clear, Nick parked the Warthog a fair distance away in an open area where they could see any attacks that might come against them. Six pulled his sniper rifle up to his face and looked through the scope.

"We need to activate the AA gun, Lieutenant. We will need to find the reset control." Blue said quickly before turning toward Nick. "Do you know where it is located?"

"Yes." Nick mentioned. "The main controls to activate the AA gun are located on the roof of that two story building in the camp. But I saw movement up there during our drive. Might be Covies waiting to ambush anybody." Six began setting up his sniper rifle to peer onto the roof of said building to confirm if there were any enemies on top.

Blue turned toward Six and asked, "You see anything Six?" Six nodded in response upon seeing an Elite General trying to hide themselves on the roof.

"Can you get a clean shot?" Six shook his head. Nick then remembered something.

"Do you still have the Target Locator?" Nick asked. Six nodded. "Great! If you still have the one strike left, you can use that on the Elites up there. The roof and the equipment are sturdy and will remain in good condition even if you use the Locator."

Six looked at Blue and her response was, "Do it." Six brought out the Locator and targeted the roof of the building. A few seconds later, the last mortar strike came down and hit the roof. Sure enough, the two Elites up top were blasted to bits in moments. Six stepped into the Warthog again and Nick casually took it into the building's garage, watching everywhere for any Covies that had survived. Once they were under the building, Six got out, went to a nearby armory where he switched the useless Locator for a DMR before disappearing up the stairs. A dozen seconds passed and nothing happened as of yet. Then a series of explosions and gunshots went off above. Most likely on the roof of the building based on where the sounds were coming from. The sounds stopped a few seconds later. Then the screaming form of an Elite General went over the side of the building right past the garage windows where Nick and Blue were, causing Nick to jump a little in surprise. A bolt of green plasma quickly followed the Elite General and the sounds of a distant explosion came up from the bottom of the cliff.

"Does he do that a lot?" Nick asked with a raised eyebrow at what he just saw. Blue seemed to be chuckling a little.

"I think he's just a little angry at almost getting killed again." Blue said in response. Nick raised his eyebrow higher. It sounded like Six had experienced a near death experience before and there was a story behind that somewhere. He decided to leave it be for now and focus on waiting for the gray Spartan to return. A few seconds later, the sounds of the AA turret out front beginning to charge were heard and Six appeared soon after and jumped back into the passenger's seat. As they left the garage under the building, they saw an incoming Phantom and two Banshees heading toward their position. Within the next minute, the AA gun and Blue's incredible skill with the Gauss cannon had rendered all three enemy air vehicles into scrap.

 _"Nice work, Spartans. Get to Farragut Station and get that comms array up and running."_ Sword Control radioed before shutting off.

With that done and over, Nick hit the gas again and headed down the southern pass in the area. It was the shortest route available to Farragut Station instead of going back toward Sword Base and then heading for the eastern pass. Halfway through the southern pass, the three soldiers witnessed another Phantom dropping off several Grunts and Jackals. While Blue just used the turret to shot many of them, Nick shifted the gears of the Warthog and drifted through the remaining Covie forces, running many over in the process. When they stopped to look back at their work, all of the Covenant that had been dropped off were either in odd positions that bodies normally weren't in or had blown to pieces. With that taken care of, the Warthog continued north now through the empty mountain pass, towards Farragut Station. When they finally got there, Nick nearly cursed their rotten luck.

He had expected enemy forces. They all had of course. There were Grunts, Skirmishers, a few Elites, and a Ghost, which seemed fairly standard. What they didn't expect was the sight of a Covenant Revenant in bright red armor. Those vehicles were worse than several Wraiths and Ghosts fighting on the same battlefield. Revenants were capable of speeds equal to that of a Ghost while also carrying a smaller plasma cannon on the back and a second seat in the manner of a Wraith. In short, the Covenant Revenant was a more deadly combo of the two with both of their strengths. The only good thing about them was that they rarely were deployed so they weren't often seen on the battlefield. Still there was one on the battlefield and it had fired a mortar as soon as the Warthog had appeared in the area forcing Nick to swerve the Warthog out of the way of the plasma shot. Seeing the approaching mortar, Nick had forced the Warthog to drift so he could turn the vehicle in another direction which in turn, caused the plasma to sail a few feet over the vehicle instead of slamming into it and impact the ground where the Warthog had been. The side of the Warthog where Six was seated was incidentally the part that ended up the closest to the Revenant during the attempt to swerve out of the way and in the process, Six had seamlessly jumped out the Warthog and onto the Revenant without anybody expecting it. The gray Spartan had then proceeded to mercilessly beat the ever living crap out of the two Elites within the Revenant before booting them out the sides where one was run over by back end of the Revenant and the other had been promptly shot by the gauss turret manned by Blue.

With the Covenant Revenant now under Six's control, Six had then proceeded to fire mortars at the Ghost that had been deployed with the Revenant. Said Ghost which had been chasing down and trying to hit Nick and Blue's Warthog with its guns a few seconds after Six had jumped out. This ended up causing a rather ridiculous three way chase where both the Ghost and Warthog had to dodge the Revenant's mortars which was chasing the Ghost that in turn was attempting to kill the Warthog's occupants. At the same time, the Covies that were on top of the buildings within Farragut Station were firing on them continuously.

' _Okay, you know what. Fuck this bastard.'_ Nick thought after the chase had become rather annoying. With that thought, Nick casually shifted gears and backed up into the Ghost which had proceeded to turn away as soon as it saw its quarry backing up. Unfortunately the Revenant chasing the Ghost had then proceeded to wedge the Ghost between it and the back of the Warthog, trapping the Ghost and its occupant between the two enemy vehicles. Blue then casually shot the Elite driver in the head and the two vehicles went off in different directions, but not before blowing the Ghost to smithereens to ensure it didn't fall back into enemy hands.

With those threats now both taken care of, the Warthog and the Revenant both proceeded to different positions and began firing on the roofs of Farragut Station indiscriminately with their respective weapons. The station appeared as nothing more than a small abandoned village with the buildings arranged in a half circle surrounded by rocky hills and the waters of the bay. The buildings were taller than those at the AA base and the only way to get a proper look over them was from the nearby hill where the trio originally came from. In a manner equivalent to medieval warfare, Six used the Revenant's weaponry as a catapult to launch plasma mortars onto the roof of the station from the ground while Nick and Blue took the Warthog to the hill and blasted any Covenant they spotted with the gauss cannon. The constant bombardment from different directions forced the Covies inside to try and either fight or flee to safety. Either option usually killed them for various reasons but by the time the two vehicles stopped, the roofs seemed clear of enemy combatants with those that had guarded the area now scattered about like broken toys.

"I'll search the area for a generator, Six. You find that comms array, should be up high." Blue radioed before jumping off the Warthog turret and heading into a nearby building in the station. Looking from his seat, Nick could see Six moving up into a building before appearing a few seconds later on the second level balcony.

 _"Okay, generator is up and running."_ Blue's voice came over not long after. Six had merely gone up another set of stairs on the outside of the building to the roof itself and fiddled with something for a few seconds before moving back toward the Warthog. Blue's voice soon came over the radio again.

 _"You did it, Six! Comms array up and running."_ Blue's voice came up as soon as it was confirmed that the commlinks to command had been reestablished. As the two Spartans moved back into the Warthog, a new voice popped in over the radio.

 _"Noble Strike, this is Noble Leader. Get back to Sword Base ASAP."_

"On our way, Commander. Six, let's go." Kat replied even as the two Spartans jumped back into their respective seats and Nick stepped on the gas leaving Farragut Station in their rearview mirror.

 _"Good work, Spartans. Return to Sword Base, the rest of your team is inbound, imminent."_ Sword Control radioed even as the trio reached the halfway mark between Farragut and Sword Base. As the Warthog's occupants neared the base's main entrance, Noble Leader's voice broke through once more. _"Noble, be advised: Covenant corvette moving into position. Kat, Six, get here quick. We need you inside."_

The barriers that could keep any vehicles out of the base proper had been raised, forcing the trio to ditch the Warthog as soon as they reached the main entrance. In the distance, the attacking Covenant corvette was raining heavier fire upon the unseen airfield and several shots were striking the far end of Sword Base itself. An ever increasing glow could be seen on the distant horizon as if a second sun was rising to the west. The trio couldn't afford to look at the incredible, yet horrifying view that greeted them. All that could do was run up the ramp within the courtyard to the closed garage. The Covenant bodies still remained where they lay, the blood coagulating on the pavement. Thankfully the human bodies all seemed to have been removed from their former places and all doorways leading in or out were closed to the outside. The garage would be the only entrance that they would be able to get through now. But as they neared it, Nick heard, or rather felt something, rather like a small earthquake from within and he wondered if the Spartans had actually heard or felt it as well. Blue, or rather Kat, as Nick had heard Noble Leader called her earlier, was currently working on the keypad on the column next to the garage entrance while Six stood next to her.

"Hey guys." Nick called out while moving to the side of the doors. The two Spartans looked at him. "You might want to step out of the way." He warned. Both Spartans simply looked at him questioningly. "Trust me." Nick said. Six merely moved more to the side while Kat got closer to the wall in response. The keypad gave off a pleasant chime one second later and the garage doors opened in response to the sounds of bashing and explosions.

Turns out the warning was actually needed after all.

As soon as the garage doors had opened to the point where even a Spartan could pass under without stooping, a large blur flew by at a slightly ridiculous speed. It had passed so close as to fill everybody's sight with orange-blue colors and leave a passing breeze due to the displaced air. The flying object impacted a UNSC plasma coil that had been placed out in the courtyard earlier where it promptly exploded and disappeared.

A second passed.

Three seconds.

Five.

After half a dozen seconds, whatever had hit the plasma coils impacted the pavement of the courtyard leaving behind a small cloud of dust. When the dust finally cleared, what lay in the pavement was nothing more than a Covenant Hunter. Hunters, by their very nature, were large, heavily armored, well equipped, and came in pairs. In fact, one Hunter alone was usually harder to take down than a tank, hell they were often called walking tanks. So the fact that a Hunter flew, exploded, flew higher than before, and then crashed was rather surprising.

"Well," Nick quipped in stunned bemusement, "pigs certainly can't fly, but Hunters apparently can." Six actually let out a quiet snort at the comment before the trio turned to look inside. What they saw was utter chaos.

The entire garage had been trashed, even more so than the courtyard. Objects, weapons, cases, crates had been flung everywhere. Bright greenish black plasma marks stained the walls, floor, and ceiling. There was a forklift stuck in the wall and it was on fire to boot. In the center of it all, amidst a number of orange puddles and wormlike figures, lay the second Hunter. The poor creature had a large number of deep gashes in its torso that were bleeding heavily, a leg and an arm both laid beside it, and numerous holes of varying sized punched through the body. To top it all off, the Hunter's shield was currently embedded in the being's facial area, nearly severing the entire head off the body. Standing over the dead Hunter, was a Krogan. Large, orange-skinned, red-eyed, scarred, heavily armored, and bleeding from many areas, every part of this being radiated pure dominance not unlike the alpha of a pack. The Krogan casually grabbed the edges of the shield and yanked it out the Hunter's carcass before spitting a glob of orange blood out of his mouth at the dead body.

"Huh. These guys weren't so tough." The Krogan grunted with a feral grin. The trio merely walked up to him with a mixture of awe and trepidation.

"You okay big guy?" Kat asked. The Krogan looked at her with a smile filled with bloodlust.

"Okay? HAH! I'm better than okay! This is the best fight I've ever been a part of in over 500 years!" The Krogan roared in mirth. It was slightly freaky and most people would have backed up in fear. The trio merely stood their ground until static broke through their radios.

 _"We're stalled in the tower atrium. Kat, where are you?"_ A different voice called out from the device.

"We're inside the garage now, will be topside soon." Kat answered quickly before turning to Six and the Krogan. "Let's get to the atrium. We have to go through the security office. Elevator, Lieutenant. Take it." She motioned to the elevator doors off to the side of the garage and the four moved with her, the Krogan also lugging along the Hunter's shield. The wait was mercifully short and the group now entered the elevator in good time. However, because of the Krogan and his new shield, the ride took slightly longer than usual and the group was forced to listen to stereotypical elevator music as a result. After a few seconds, the Krogan was obviously too hyper or annoyed to deal with it and proceeded to blast the speakers with his shotgun. The elevator temporarily stopped for a bit in response before restarting its slow climb up. When everybody looked at him for an answer, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Too much time spent on the Citadel listening to that kind of music. Gets annoying after a while."

"I was under the impression that most Krogan don't leave Tuchanka save for those joining mercenary groups like the Blood Pack." Nick pointed out.

"That would be the case, but I'm not a merc. Officially speaking, I'm the ambassador between the Council and UNSC Command stationed on Reach." The Krogan answered.

"Wait." Kat held up her hand, "Your Ambassador Urdnot Wrex? Why are you even here in the first place? Shouldn't you have gone someplace else for safety?"

"Technically yes. I was in the Viery Territory at the time Winter Contingency was declared. My group was forced to land here when the skies became too dangerous. So for now, we're just helping you guys out." The elevator shuddered again from an explosion and stopped once more before continuing its ascent.

"Where's our orbital support? Got to be four platforms that could take out that corvette with a single MAC round." Nick asked out loud.

"Base is too important to risk losing at the moment. MAC rounds would cause large amounts of damage if the corvette is overhead." Kat answered in response. The elevator dinged once before the doors opened to reveal a formerly pristine reception area now in ruins.

 _"Welcome to the Office of Naval Intelligence. An ONI representative will meet you shortly."_ The automated PA instantly spoke out as soon as the four occupants stumbled out of the elevator.

"I doubt that very much." Kat said dryly as they passed through the wreckage.

 _"Thank you, Lieutenant. You have been cleared for access."_ The speaker called once more before going silent. The four continuously moved through the empty hallway. After a few twists and turns they finally came to a closed doorway. The electricity in the area was still running though and Six merely had to press a button on the keypad to make it open. When the doors opened, it was utter chaos once more. The atrium of Sword Base was rather large, and in Nick's opinion, rather untenable as a defensive position. It rose several stories high with great metal and glass bridges crossing the chasm at the atriums ends. Windows lined the walls of the great atrium where rooms filled with offices, hallways, and lounges were located. The inner end of the atrium was nothing but a concrete and steel wall but at the outer end was a large glass window to the outside letting in the light of the sun and burning fields. The ceiling was too high up to see but the floor had colorful marble stones and water fountains plus large metal sculptures. Overall, it wouldn't be surprising to anybody if this was actually the core of the building that made up Sword Base itself. There also happened to be a full scale battle occurring within its confines at the moment.

The various bridges crossing the chasm each had their own firefight going on inside them. There also appeared to be firefights within the various rooms along the atrium based on the flashing colors and lights in the windows. What took up everyone's attention though was the giant firefight that was occurring right in front of them. In front of the door where the four popped out were two more Spartans much like Kat and Six but different in their own way as well. One Spartan looked relatable to the two Nick had traveled with the entire day but wore armor that fit the profile of a scout due to its mismatched earthy colors and appearance of certain particles of cloth that were probably meant to trick the eyes as plants. To complete the ensemble, the scout carried a SRS99-AM sniper rifle and he had the air of somebody who carried themselves with a quiet power that reminded anybody that he could kill everyone within sight in a matter of seconds. Whereas the scout was subtle in the way he showed his lethal power, the second Spartan practically shouted it to the world just by appearance alone. First, he was large, as in large as Ambassador Wrex, large. His orange-black armor was even more mismatched than either three Spartans. To make it seem even more ridiculous, the giant of a Spartan carried a giant machine gun with both hands. Not lugging it around like it still held a large amount of weight to the giant but more like he was simply carrying multiple shopping bags. It was a lightweight to him and he was using it expertly, mowing down any Covies that dared to approach or break cover.

"Spartan! Over here!" The giant called out.

"Six, head upstairs and assist Emile. Jorge, make sure he/she gets there." Kat instantly called out. Six rushed toward the far end of the atrium followed by the giant who Nick assumed was named Jorge. Nick wordlessly got into cover and began firing on the Covies the two Spartans had shoved aside violently. Kat and Wrex both stayed with the group however, the two using their respective skills and weaponry to protect the rest of the men from the Covenant fire. Once close enough, Kat either shot the aliens in the head or Wrex bashed them against the wall with his shield. Those on the ground floor soon joined their compatriots on the first floor where Six, Jorge, and another Spartan with a skull etched into his helmet, fought against the Covenant. The efforts of four Spartans and a Krogan cleared the lower levels of the Covenant quite quickly. But the higher they got in the atrium, the more Covies appeared to replace the dead ones lying in the halls. At the third and uppermost bridge of the atrium, the Covenant forces began appearing in such numbers that it was almost impossible to dislodge them. That was when Wrex took up his Hunter's shield and barreled down the length of the bridge like a battering ram, using his shotgun to take out anybody on his unprotected side. When he got to the other side, he threw his strength into the shield and the shield flew outwards, knocking an Elite and two Jackals off the balcony and to their deaths down below on the bottom floor. With the atrium now cleared, the Allied forces finally got to the top floor and entered a large lounge room / hallway of sorts that contained an Elite General with a Concussion Rifle. Wrex once again charged the Elite, smashed it down onto the floor, and then continued to smash the shield down on it like a hammer to a nail. The remaining Covies ran at the sight and were promptly gunned down.

Wrex simply grunted in approval before saying, "I'm definitely keeping this." Before moving on with the Spartans and a small number of ODSTs which Nick remained with.

What they saw once they got to the breach was terrifying. The corvette now loomed almost directly overhead, firing down on Sword Base and what little remained of Airview. A large number of Phantoms and Banshees flew over the giant exposed gap in the building and a small number of Covies remained within. Nick instantly saw a shimmer amongst the mountain-glacier backdrop and fired at it. A bullet hit the shimmer, revealing the cloaked Elite to all. A second bullet revealed another cloaked Elite and the entire group began to fire on them and any other Covies in the area. But the Banshees and Phantoms made it all the more difficult. The ODSTs and Marines were forced to hide behind the walls, leaving the Spartans and Krogan to hide behind their own defenses.

 _"Commander, this base won't survive another salvo from that corvette. Kill those Banshees!"_ Sword Control practically yelled out.

 _"Six, get to the top floor and assist Emile."_ Noble leader radioed a second later. The Skull-faced Spartan named Emile, Jorge, Six, and Wrex both got out on the newly formed balcony and then proceeded to fire everything they had at the flyers. Both Six and Emile were using their assault rifles since his shotguns and pistols wouldn't be helpful. Jorge had his machine gun firing away but the Banshees simply dodged the bullets while the Phantoms had thicker armor. Wrex was simply providing extra cover where ever he could and firing on anything that came close. Nick was hiding in an ruined room or hallway when he noticed something. The area must have been an armory before it was destroyed or somebody must have been here earlier and failed for close to Nick lay a M41 SPNKR Rocket Launcher in perfect condition and already loaded. A single rocket from one of those was able to take out any flying vehicle that happened close by. In short it was perfect. Nick instantly rushed out as soon as the coast was clear, grabbed the rocket launcher where it lay and tried to steady himself. But a Banshee must have spotted him and tried to take potshots at his position in response. Nick threw himself away from the plasma that hit where he had been and tried to set up once more but the Banshees must have known what he was doing. Realizing he would never get a clear shot like this, Nick glanced over to see Six was nearby. The Spartans still stood but they wouldn't be able to take those Banshees out with assault rifles.

"Six!" Nick yelled. The gray Spartan looked his way. "Use this!" Nick shouted as he threw the rocket launcher to Six who deftly caught it midair and swung the barrel toward an approaching Banshee. The launcher went off and a single rocket flew straight into the Banshee which didn't have time to respond. A cloud of fire and smoke went off as the Banshee exploded from the impact but nobody was paying attention to that. Six was already zooming in on his second target which tried to use fancy tricks to escape him and fire back. The rockets however, had heat seekers added to them so that pilot's death was more drawn out for what it was worth. The third and last Banshee attempted to escape by getting out of line of sight but the heat seekers at work again revealed that the last Banshee had been destroyed.

"That's the way we get it done, Spartan!" Emile shouted in joy as he watched the last Banshee fall away.

"Noble Team, Longswords are inbound and ready to push. Orbital defenses standing by to take the shot." Sword Control soon radioed which was quickly followed by two Longswords flying near the corvette, taking out nearby Phantoms in the process. The corvette itself now attempted to flee the scene but as everybody watched, the Longswords followed the corvette for a distance, but soon break off. A second later, a single Super MAC round suddenly streaked down from the sky above and smashed right through the corvette itself. The engines and shields flickered for a moment before the ship suddenly lost power and began to lose altitude, crashing into the glacial lake below. Everybody cheered at the site and Nick took the time to take a few pictures with a camera he had on him as a precaution.

"Beautiful, ain't it? Someone should take a picture." Jorge said in relief as the corvette slowly sank beneath the waves while giving Six a pat on the shoulder. Nick almost made a passing remark about how he just did that but shut his mouth as he listened in on the two.

"Nice work, by the way." Jorge continued.

"I aim to please." Came the quiet response from the mostly silent Spartan. As soon as he heard Six's voice, his mind instantly flashed to some distant battlefield. Skyscrapers were falling, vehicles were on fire, and people ran in fright. A plasma sword appeared, blood spattered the walls, there was a scream and a roar. Nick instantly shook his head to chase the memories away.

' _That voice had sounded familiar.'_ He thought curiously as he saw the Spartans respond to something along their personal comms before heading out of sight. As they passed through the doorway to where ever they were needed, Nick took one last look at the Spartan simply known as Noble Six before he disappeared.

' _Who are you Noble Six?'_ He questioned before turning to watch as the last the corvette disappeared below the icy waters of Reach.

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The Spartan known as Noble Six to his team, followed Jorge down to the science wing of Sword Base, thinking all the while about the events that had led them here and the soldier he met. All Spartans had something that resembled a refined form of OCD, something that helped them in regards to studying their surroundings and other people. All Spartans consciously and subconsciously checked everything and everyone around them, gauging them. To most, this ODST would be an exceptional soldier, but he couldn't hold his own against a Spartan. But something about him made him stand out to Six and he wanted to know what it was. But now wasn't the time to do so. The two Spartans had arrived at the science wing of Sword, where Carter was already talking to Dr. Catherine Halsey and to Six's surprise, Dr. Mordin Solus, both of whom was behind a glass wall that separated the two of them from NOBLE Team. Six had heard about her before. Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey was said to be the greatest scientific genius that humanity ever had in over a century, a prodigy of remarkable intellect. She was responsible for the creation of the Spartan II project and indirectly the Spartan III Project as well. Her work with ONI and the UNSC had originally been to ensure the end of the Insurrection before it spiraled out of control. Of course that had all changed when the Covenant appeared on Harvest. Dr. Mordin Solus was much the same in that regard. The most intelligent being next to Dr. Halsey herself, not just amongst the STG or the Salarian race as a whole, but amongst the whole of the Citadel races. Their combined work had benefited the Allies in multiple ways, resulting in the creation of new technologies like medigel amongst others. If both were here, then things were far more worrisome than they should be.

"I requested your assistance, Commander, and do not need a report on events that occur on my own doorstep. What I do require is a detailed account of your previous engagement-" Halsey was speaking before she paused mid-sentence when she noticed Jorge and Six enter the room.

"Jorge. It's been too long."

Jorge took off his helmet and greeted her with a simple and polite, "Ma'am."

"What have you done with my armor?"

Everybody looked at Jorge's armor in response to the question. The armor had been customized, just like the armor of the rest of Noble Team but it had originally been a MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark IV given to all Spartan IIs. Until Jorge joined Noble Team that was.

"Just some... additions I've made." He stuttered like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Obviously customized to allow for more room. Allows for greater mobility and ammo capacity. Generic Mark IV and V would have been too tight." Dr. Solus stated quickly, with no regards to the slight blush growing on Jorge's face.

"Indeed." Halsey simply said with a small smile before moving back to the original topic. "Visegrád Relay. Its data center was home to one of my xeno-archaeologists, Professor Laszlo Sorvad. Perhaps you could shed some light on his death."

"If he was a civilian male in his mid-sixties, he died with a Covenant Energy Sword through his abdomen." Jorge answered quickly.

"Elites, then." Solus stated.

"They engaged us as well. It was just, uh, just after we found your scientist's daughter. She was hiding in the-"

"Irrelevant." Halsey cut him off before continuing. "The Elites. Tell me more about them."

"Three. Zealot-class. One got by us. The leader, a Field Marshal, from the looks of him."

"Zealots? You're certain?"

"Their armor configuration matched."

"Shield strength, too. " Six added in, having fought and nearly died at the hands of Field Marshal that had been amongst the Zealots had it not been for the others.

"I gave the order not to pursue." Carter butted in. "Our primary objective was to get the station's relay back online."

"Your primary objective? Commander, are you a puppet or a Spartan?" Halsey remarked with a snide tone. Though nobody could see it, Six got the feeling that Emile and Jun were both glaring at Dr. Halsey in response to that remark.

"Ma'am?" Carter asked.

"There are those at ONI, myself and Dr. Solus here included, who believe the Covenant dispatch Elite advance teams to hunt down artifacts of value to their religion. Survivor accounts suggest such teams are small, nimble, and almost always Zealot-class. No doubt they came to the station for the abundance of ONI excavation data stored there. And you let them get away."

"Data retrieval was not a command directive. Even had we known, we had other, more urgent matters to attend to." Carter countered.

"Like warning the planet." Kat put in her two cents.

"Then why attempt to steal the device?" Dr. Solus asked. Noble Team looked at Kat who wordlessly took a data module out of her pockets and placed it in a container within the glass shield.

"Kat?" Carter started.

Halsey simply said, "Before you ask, I was alerted the moment you attempted to access its contents. As I am with any unauthorized tap. That data is classified Tier One... I could send you to the brig for interfering with my work."

"Maybe you'd like to join her."

"...I'm sorry?"

"We're currently under emergency planetary directive, "WINTER CONTINGENCY". I'm sure you're familiar with the punishment for civilian interference with a Spartan deployment."

"Are you threatening me, Commander?"

"Just making a reading suggestion, ma'am."

"As amusing as this tangent is," Dr. Solus intervened, "We have news about your next mission." The Salarian quickly put up a holoscreen and pressed a few buttons before swiveling it over to Carter. "Covenant forces have set up what appears to be an electronic dark zone within the Viery Territory, close to the area of the Visegrád Relay. Current knowledge of their numbers and strength is unknown. Based on accounts from local forces, it's hypothesized to be a remnant strike force from the corvette. Objectives are unknown."

"Why are you telling us this?" Carter asked. The holoscreen changed from a map of the Dark Zone to a picture of a Turian.

"Next mission will likely be recon. Will require scouts and snipers of excellent caliber. Making a suggestion for a someone to join you on your mission. Best sniper amongst the Turian military along with other skills that will prove useful. Also will be outfitted with the latest experimental weaponry for the job. Should be helpful. Just a suggestion of course. Up to you to accept." The Salarian rattled off quickly. Carter merely looked at the screen before nodding in acceptance for the doctor's help.

"Let's move, Noble Team." Carter said. Four of the Spartans complied and soon left the room but Six stayed in the doorway to watch Jorge, who lingered behind.

"Ma'am?"

Dr. Halsey merely examined the module alongside Dr. Solus before muttering, "That... will be all, Jorge." The big Spartan merely nodded in response and left the room with Six.

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 **God, not again. I should take a lesson from Cortana about trying to make promises I can't keep. Suffice to say that my new job forced me to work a lot over the week and weekends sometimes had their own moments so I was only able to write a few pages every Saturday and Sunday. Which meant no chapter for October. Sorry. Good news though. Well good for readers, bad for me. My job requires my bosses to go through bureaucratic red tape so I likely won't be called out again all winter, forcing me once again to go job searching. For you lot though, it means that I will be working more often on this story again and as an apology note, you can expect another chapter before the end of the month before I stick to the most likely result of one chapter per month. Last semi-promise.**

 **This is now officially the longest chapter I've ever typed at over 14,000 words. I feel somewhat drained and frankly I hate the fact that there are some parts of the chapter that don't actually match up with the game ( a minor detail that somewhat bugs me) but I'm introducing more characters and frankly I think you're going to love the next character to join in the fight for Reach. As for last chapter, wow. Just wow. Largest amount of reviews / replies I have ever gotten so far. Thanks for the support and the help in that regard. Also since you guys are the readers, I would like to see your ideas on tech crossovers between Halo, StarCraft, and Mass Effect technology. Explain your tech and its abilites and if it's good for what I have in mind, I'll put it in and give credit where credit is due.**

 **Major Simi & Wolfund: Thank you for your comments. Hope to hear more from you both.**

 **Kingslops: Thank you for the info about Tevos' daughter. Turns out she did die in canon but in a completely different manner. About the Spartans, the crossover of both techs will definitely prove a boon in the matter and you will see a few Spartans that are either dead, meant to die, retired, or frozen, that might actually join in the fight. No promises on how many but there is hope.**

 **I am Lauren: Wow. Thank you for that stunning comment. Feel free to leave more comments.**

 **Reichenfaust: Yeah it was something that I wanted to see with all those characters after Halo Wars but they all just fell off the wayside until recently so I decided to bring them in. As for the Transformers aiding humanity, haven't decided if they will reveal themselves during the war or not but there will be moments where you might have to squint and look real closely at any mention of vehicles. But if you do see something, you will definitely be going like, "I see what you did there".**

 **DoctorWhoopass: I'm sorry but I don't plan on adding Battlestar Galactica or any other universes. This is because if you look at the timeline, I already got a full load of crossovers. Battlestar Galactica is going to screw with that big time. Even if I wanted to, I don't know anything about it except that it's about the last group of humans on a ship trying to find a new home and escape ever evolving robots, sort of a Terminator in space thing. Still there are universes that I will add subtly to the story. Sort of a character mentioning what they were doing type thing and might elaborate on the story but you probably won't hear anything of it because distractions. So I might take some races out of their respective universes but it will be for background, setting, filler, type thing. Finally, considering the fact that there will be more future wars, this war will eventually go down as the Halo Wars for my story, simply because its shorter than Human-Covenant War which no longer applies and Great War could also be applied to say, the Reaper Invasion or Amon's attacks on the Koprulu Sector. It all depends naturally.**

 **Umbra Venator: You will but were going to start small before it goes big so that way you can see your favorite Mass Effect characters kick literal ass on the ground before Desolas comes in to kick their collective military ass.**

 **Mrdnra: Thank you and I hope you come to enjoy the story as it progresses.**

 **Azrael Akuma: As a response, I turn to Doctor River Song to elaborate. Doctor Song? *Screen switches to River Song* "Spoilers." *Screen switches back* There you have it.**

 **Okeler: Thank you.**

 **Nipplegunz: There will be lots of tech crossover if I have anything to say about it. Especially in weaponry for obvious reasons of course. Also, love your ideas about Samara, the Hanar declaring holy war, and all that other stuff. Will definitely look it over to see how it fits in. Thanks for the help.**

 **Many Faced Mage: Don't worry they will all have their moments in the spotlight. Sadly, no Javik for this war. Don't worry, I plan on introducing him earlier than in canon. As for the Autobots, I point to Reichenfaust's comment and my answer above.**

 **Query: I don't exactly mind OC species, and frankly if it suits the story I would like to add them in. I already got one in mind but it won't come around to later down the road.**

 **Codex Entry: Wow. Just wow. Without a doubt, you are the only person who has commented far more than any other person here, and on one chapter too. Your entries will undoubtedly be included in the Codex book I plan to publish later, with a few minor tweaks admittedly, and I'll give credit where credit is due. If you have further codex entries you like to publish, just give me a private message over Fanfiction or something detailing your ideas.**

 **Fer82: Yours was the longest and most well thought out review I have received so far. First off, I like to say thank you for the comments you mentioned. I've read too many fan-fictions where the Turians were the bad guys and they weren't even given logical reasons for being the bad guys. It got stale pretty quick and I wanted this story to be more realistic, like you pointed out with the actions Truth and Co. On the technological issues, admittedly I'm not the best at knowing or even guesstimating what Council tech would be like against Covenant tech. Based on what info I could get both off canon and other sources at the time I wrote those first chapters, many agree that the Council would stand less of a chance than the UNSC. Some of the tech I researched on, I still feel like I don't know about it properly. So yeah there is a slight hiccup with the tech wielded around and I want to say that under normal circumstances, if either group had been alone, they still would have taken a beating. The Council even more so than the UNSC. But together, they might have a stronger chance of surviving and considering who it was between in the beginning, its usually going to be the UNSC who take the brunt of the damage in battle. But either way, you have good points and I am trying to get the hang of this tech thing even more so now that were crossing tech. So thank you for your help and please let me know about other points I may have messed up on in the future.**

 **So to all my viewers, I like to wish you a late, but genuine, Happy Allhallowtide which includes Halloween, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day. Thank you for your support and see you this Thanksgiving.**


	7. Chapter 7: Nightfall

Chapter 7: Nightfall

 **No one ever approaches perfection except by stealth, and unknown to themselves. – William Hazlitt**

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 **2630 Hours, August 1st, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Szurdok Ridge, Viery Territory, Reach, Epsilon Eridani System**

The night was unnaturally quiet, the usual sounds of the creatures that would normally awake with setting of the sun and continue their nocturnal rituals, unheard tonight. A pleasant breeze stirred the leaves of bushes and trees scattered across the hills, mountains, and canyons of the Viery Territory. The sky was clear, revealing an uncountable number of stars and Reach's two moons, Csodaszarvas and Turul, all shining down on the seemingly abandoned landscape. In the light of dawn, the area probably would have been the perfect picture on a postcard. In the dark of night, the lack of sound made it seemed haunting. It wasn't hard to see why. A Covenant Phantom flew past the cliffs, shining a light upon the natural stone walls to ensure that the enemy would not attempt to go around their position by climbing their way around. After a minute of closely checking the cliffside, the Phantom took off, secure in the belief that nothing was amiss. Then like ghosts apparating out of the walls, three figures peeled off the mountain covered in plants to blend into their surroundings. The three figures began to walk along the ledge they had so recently been hiding on, attempting to get to the safety of solid ground merely a few feet away, and crawling with Covenant forces.

The three figures slowly moved out onto the outcropping overlooking the valley below them. The first two would be recognizable to some if only because they had participated more actively in the first phases of the Covenant invasion of Reach. They were of course Jun-A266, the Spartan that Nick had mentally nicknamed Scout a week ago who also went by the call sign of Noble Three, and the gray armored Noble Six. These two had obviously been the correct choices for the mission as Jun was perhaps the best marksman amongst the Spartan IIIs to date and, in the words of Dr. Halsey, Noble Six who was described more as a "hyper lethal vector", marking him as something unique amongst most Spartans period. They were both excellent candidates for the job at hand. The job being to recon as deep into the Covenant dark zone in the Viery Territory as possible and learn what they could while setting up any traps or explosives to clear the way for the upcoming attack in the morning. The third figure however, was a curious addition and one both recently and temporarily added to the team for the mission. He was a Turian, a member of the Hierarchy's Special Ops group known as Blackwatch, and he was one of the best known marksmen the Council forces got on their side. Though nobody could see it because of his helmet, his gray face was still and emotionless like a predator on the hunt. A single continuous blue mark went over his nose, under his eyes, and across his cheeks while two smaller blue marks went down his mandibles. His name was Garrus Vakarian and he was scared to death.

Garrus was the youngest Turian, by his species' standards, to ever join Blackwatch. He been out of training and in the fight as a regular soldier for many years before but his recent promotion into Blackwatch came about a few months ago due to the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV. He had been set on the ground near Côte d'Azur when the Covenant attacked the planet and had participated in an allied strike force which had established Alpha Headquarters in a jungle close to the city limits. Unknown to everybody, the jungle had been infested with Covies led by numerous Hunters, who had quickly overrun Firebase Bravo on the city outskirts before attempting to take Alpha HQ itself. When the battle for the base began, Garrus had personally set himself up on one of the highest points in the base and began sniping down every Covenant soldier that proved to be the most threatening to the base's security and its inhabitants. His actions helped stall the Covenant force until the arrival of reinforcements in the form of Spartans, who cleared out the remaining Covenant and then proceeded to go into Côte d'Azur to complete the mission they had been assigned before using a HAVOK nuclear device to destroy both Côte d'Azur and any Covenant still within the city and the surrounding jungles. Garrus received a commendation for his actions and was soon after inducted into Blackwatch itself. When asked why, his superiors had simply told him that he had proven instrumental in keeping Alpha HQ in allied hands and in saving the lives of both General Kits and the remaining two hundred out of five hundred soldiers that had survived. In short, he was a skilled specialist with a useful talent and Blackwatch wanted him. Since then, he had been training on Reach as part of the joint training program between humans and Council aliens when he had been called into for a recon mission. This was officially his first mission as a member of Blackwatch and an active participant alongside a Spartan fire-team into a possible Covenant stronghold.

So of course it would be understandable if anybody else in his position would most likely be terrified to the point of uselessness to ever be a part of an operation like this. But Garrus had learned long ago to clamp down on his emotions like most Special Ops agents and simply breathed in and out to relax. It wouldn't help his aim if he was panicking inwardly and he didn't intend to let his temporary teammates down by making a bad call out of fright. So he merely stayed silent and listened to his teammates while trying to reign in his fear.

"Recon Team Bravo reporting: Three, Six, and Rookie in position. It's starting to get crowded up here, Kat." Jun radioed through the team's helmets as they neared the point of no return.

"I have a codename you know." Garrus stated quietly.

"Didn't see it in the paperwork." Jun said in response with a hint of a playful smirk in his voice.

 _"Then we're closing in. Report any Covenant structures or devices. Direct action may be necessary."_ Kat's voice came in clearly over the comms. The three members were now safely on the overlook on the cliff and away from the death drop on their left side.

"Copy that." Jun chuckled before hanging up. "When Kat runs an op, direct action is always necessary." He told the other two and Garrus could practically see the smirk on his face just from his voice alone. Jun began to rummage around in his pack before pulling out a container and handing Six a magazine filled with 14.5x114mm sniper rounds for his rifle. "Here. You may need these. High velocity, armor-piercing. They'll take the hat off an Elite at two thousand yards. And they ain't cheap." Jun said with a slight tone to his voice. He handed Garrus one of the magazines and Garrus took the offered ammo and slid it into his utility belt in one smooth motion.

"Thanks." He muttered quietly. Jun merely nodded in acceptance. Garrus had understood the subtle warning in Jun's voice. Sniper ammo was a rarity in any military base and an even rarer find on the battlefield. So when using a weapon like a sniper rifle, the ammo usually had to be used sparingly. Garrus was rather lucky in that regard compared to the other two. As a member of a special ops group, he got to use a few experimental weapons that were unavailable to the public or military at large, much like the Spartans or Council Spectres. The weapon he bore now was a newly created prototype. The introduction of eezo tech had been something of a boon to the UNSC but because of its limits as well as the readily available plasma technology being scavenged from the battlefield, new eezo weaponry was still behind in development. Garrus' sniper was one of a kind and its use in the field was seen as an experimental test in regards to combined ballistic and eezo tech.

The gun itself could use both the blocks of metal common with eezo based guns and also the chemically powered bullets common in human weapons while accelerating both types with the inbuilt mass driver which added or took away the mass of the ammo. Weapon mods could be added to both types of bullets including the newly added plasma mod which put a small plasma shell around the bullet. To top it off, the weapon itself could be switched between the standard human type weaponry to full on eezo based or something in between. The only downside to it was that the sniper rifle produced too much heat, especially when using standard chemical bullets so heatsinks had to be introduced. It had potential and could be a foundation for more crossovers between the two allies tech bases but it still needed to be researched on further.

' _Well, no time like the present.'_ Garrus thought to himself even as he watched Jun start to climb over another rock farther ahead.

"I'll be in touch." He offhandedly said before disappearing. Six and Garrus merely looked at each other for a second before turning to the slope below them and sliding down the ledge. Six went first and continued to slide all the way toward the bottom where he made a smooth landing. Garrus had to make a small jump at the last second before landing, which jarred him a little before he stood up straight again. With the two now up and about, they moved forward silently. For the first few seconds, there was nothing, it was a rocky terrain fit for little but subsistence farming and mining and the paths twisted and turned around boulders and scraggly trees. But even as they moved, the comms came on, disturbing the silence and nearly startling Garrus due to the loud voice of Kat.

 _"Recon Bravo, the sector ahead is dark to electronic surveillance."_

 _"Covenant can block our instruments?"_ Jun's voice came over the radio immediately.

 _"So it would seem, and Command wants to know what they're hiding."_ Kat answered.

The Turian and the Spartan both moved up the small rocky hill with a quiet speed that belied the temporal limits they were constrained by. There was only so much scouting they could do tonight before the Allies would attack in the morning. The more they learned, the more lives it could save. As soon as both soldier crested the hill though, they nearly stumbled and hid away in shock. On the other side of the crest, was an Elite minor looking down on the valley and off to the sides and below the hill's slope, out of sight but not out of range of contact, was a small group of Grunts all sleeping.

 _"Elite. He's yours Six, do it quiet. Rookie, take care of the Grunts."_ Jun's voice came over the radio in a whisper. The two soldiers on the ground nodded at each other before stealthily moving onto their targets. Six's Elite was closer and attempting to kill the Grunts first would have alerted him so Six moved toward the Elite before quietly jumping on his back on plunging his knife through the alien's arteries and vocal cords. As soon as Six took out the Elite, Garrus moved in quickly and snapped the two Grunt's necks like twigs. With that taken care of, the two moved down the hill, killed three more sleeping Grunts before moving away from the site. They crossed second hill with more Covenant objects on top but thankfully no soldiers but when they reached the top they saw a small hillside compound below them. Like most country buildings on Reach, it was a series of buildings centered around a round plaza. The smallest buildings were placed on the edge of the cliffside while the homes were built into the mountain itself, reaching two stories in height. A large silo with a catwalk stood at the far end and based on the ground path around it, there was possibly more buildings out of sight and it was filled with Covenant troops.

There were at least a fair number of Elites and Grunts scattered around the compound. Several were in the courtyard, two Elites were on the roof of the closest building, one Elite on the silo's catwalk.

 _"Recon Bravo to Noble Two, stand by for contact report."_ Jun radioed to Kat once again.

" _Standing by to copy, over."_

 _"We have eyes on multiple hostiles patrolling a settlement. This what we're looking for, Kat?"_

 _"Negative, too small, you're not in the dark zone yet. Engage at your own discretion, but keep moving."_

 _"You heard her, guys. Drop those tangos."_ The radio went silent once more and the two soldiers looked at each other. Six pointed at himself before pointing in the direction of the courtyard and the buildings on the ledge. Then he pointed at Garrus before pointing at a hill that went up to the 2nd story balcony of the compound which in turn went to the catwalk on the silo. Garrus nodded his head and both soldier's went into action. As Garrus moved stealthy up the hill, he caught sight of both Elites on the roof suddenly dropping to the ground before being replaced by a single human figure. With the lookouts done for, Garrus hopped his way onto the balcony before moving toward the silo with quickening steps. The Elite, a field officer by the looks of his helmet must have either heard or sensed him because he began to turn around.

But it was too late for him.

Garrus flicked his arm and a bright glowing orange blade and gauntlet extended from his wrist in seconds as Garrus plunged it into the Elite's collar. The Elite's plasma shields sputtered as they attempted to resist the hard light before dying and allowing the blade to penetrate the soft flesh beneath. There was a gurgle of breath as the Elite attempted to call out to his comrades but blood simply began to pour from his mouth. Within seconds the light died in his eyes and his body went slack. Garrus shut off his blade and watched as the Elite fell backward and off the catwalk. Looking at the courtyard, he saw Six give him a thumbs up while coming to the foot of the silo, several Covies dead behind him.

"Nice job rookie." Jun's voice floated from behind Garrus who turned with his gun raised due to reflex. When he saw it was Jun, his mind finally caught up and lowered the weapon. "Where did you get that, cause Emile would probably kill to get a hard light blade of his own?"

"It's the newest mod to come out and it's called an Omni-blade. It's mostly restricted to special ops groups for now but the company who made this intends to expand beyond that if initial testing proves to be any good, which it undoubtedly has proven itself to be." Garrus said with a smirk in his voice. He flicked the device off and the two soldiers began to move around the silo toward the other side. Another compound waited behind the first, the far side of it crawling with Covenant forces and a plasma turret as added defense.

"Okay guys, on my mark take out the main threats. Six, you get the turret. Rookie, the Elite next to it. I'll take care of the Elite on the ground below the walls. After that, go weapons free." Jun spoke out. Two green lights beeped in acknowledgement and the three snipers took up positions.

"Ready guys?" Jun whispered once more. Two green lights beeped in response. "Alright then. Ready. Mark." Three sniper shots rang out across the compound and instantly two Elites and a Grunt fell to the ground. Two Elite's with jetpacks jumped from a nearby roof only to end up with holes in their heads. A grenade sailed through the air into a small group composed of Grunts and Jackals who came around the corner and promptly died from two much shrapnel. The battle had lasted seconds and the Covenant hadn't been able to fire a shot in retaliation before they had all died. "Come on." Jun spoke up once the coast was clear. "We can take that trail to the left." The three snipers promptly did just that and continued down the trail which was covered with more signs of Covenant habitation. Along with the growing sounds of a battle ahead. But above the roar of battle was the guttural calls of something that sent shivers down Garrus' back. As soon as they turned the corner, they saw what it was. A small group of Grunts and Jackals were located in a large ravine with piles of boulders forming hills and trees scattered throughout the area. They were fighting against two large beasts standing on their back legs with pale skins, two large claws on each hand, two toes, a small tail, and two large tusks protruding out their mouths.

"Spirits." Garrus whispered in surprise.

"Look at that!" Jun also spoke up at the sight as the two troll like creatures decimated the Covies. One unfortunate Grunt was sliced to ribbons by the claws while a Jackal was thrown into the mountain wall and dropped to the ground, leaving a trail of blood where he slid down. The carnage continued as the Covenant fired plasma in an attempt to bring down the beasts, but to no avail. A phantom flew overhead, its light shining on one of the creatures who had eviscerated the Covies that had been firing on it and was now approaching the second troll to help it.

"Serves the little bastards right." Garrus chuckled darkly once the three had climbed up a small rocky hill to view the carnage. His voice must have carried in the dark rocky ravine or the wind must have shifted because as soon as the two creatures finished killing off the little pests, they had turned their eyes toward the ledge with the three new creatures upon it. Letting out a roar, the two quickened their pace, running on all fours toward the Spartans and Turian.

"Major enemy, incoming!" Jun called out as the three instantly scattered from the twin blows of the creatures. Garrus ended up being the unlucky one to jump to the right side toward the entrance they had come out of while the other two ended up in the middle of the ravine. "Guys, there's a trail up ahead through the rocks! Let's take it." Jun called out and with that, the two Spartans madly sprinted toward the far end of the ravine. Garrus however was stuck close to the wall and when Jun made the call, the two trolls had looked around and caught sight of Garrus. The Turian was now forced to the edge of the ravine, constantly dodging the swipes and stomps of the attacking trolls. Turians, due to their slender bodies and avian ancestry are capable of running faster than the average human and Garrus had extensive training both in the military and C-Sec. So when one of the trolls attempted to pulverize him into the ground he swiftly dodged the creature's hand by jumping onto the mountain wall and running across it before jumping onto another rocky hill the creatures couldn't get on and running to the exit from there. Garrus could see the two Spartans ducking into the rocky tunnel at the far end of the ravine. But as he jumped off the hill, he sprawled into the dirt. A hidden root had tripped him up and as a result the beasts had rounded the hill to capture him once more. Garrus pulled himself up and lunged for the exit sprinted toward it with everything he had. As he neared the exit, he heard the beasts get closer and closer, could feel their breaths on his armor. He lunged between two boulders and ducked into the narrow passage of the exit followed closely by a clawed hand smashing into the ground and dragging itself back. The beasts outside roared in anger, disheartened that their prey escaped. Meanwhile, Garrus once again pulled himself to his feet and looked himself over. Except for some dirt in a few joints, he was fine as was his armor and weapons. The other two Spartans moved up to him and checked him over as well.

"You alright rookie?" Jun calmly asked as he looked over Garrus.

"Yeah, three. I'm alright, nothing broken. Anybody want to explain what was that?"

"Kat, pick any of that up?" Jun asked through the radio.

 _"Affirmative, Recon Bravo. It's an indigenous creature, called Gúta. They're indigenous to the mountainous regions of Reach. They're only this aggressive if they're rutting, protecting their young, or as you saw, under attack."_

"Spirits, and we have to deal with them throughout this mission?" Garrus asked in slight horror at the thought of facing more of these Gútas.

" _Not necessarily. Gúta are mostly solitary so you won't see them much in the region and even if you do come across more, they won't attack unless they see you as a threat."_

"Well that's a relief." Garrus sighed. Fighting against multiple indigenous troll-like creatures who could give Krogan a run for their money was not something he wanted to face again tonight. Or ever if he could help it.

"C'mon." Jun said once they got their breaths. "This trail should lead us to our destination." The other two merely nodded in response and traveled through the path. This one was far more rocky and narrower than any other trail they had come across and didn't appear to show signs of Covenant activity, which was a relief after fighting Gútas. At one part of the trail that grew slightly wider and dropped into a ravine with a rocky path going down into it. Three large birds suddenly sprinted out of the shadows, startling Garrus for a sec before he forced himself to relax.

"Don't worry rookie. They're just Moas." Jun said with a smirk in his voice. Garrus just gave a half-hearted glare at the Spartan but even as they began to move again, a distant gunshot rang out, echoing through the canyon trail.

"Gunfire. Magnums. Security sidearms, standard issue." Jun went back into Spartan mode and the trio instantly began to sprint for the exit as the sounds of gunfire increased with every second. The trail still wound through the narrow canyon walls until the trio rounded one corner and were suddenly treated to an overhanging ledge that looked over a large valley with a pumping station sitting on a small hill across from a ditch that opened up to a lake. On the on the trio's side of the ditch was a group of four militia firing at a group of Covenant backed up by a Phantom that had taken the station.

"Noble Two, we're at some sort of pump station. Got eyes on civilians, I'm thinking more local militia. They've engaged hostiles." Jun radioed.

 _"Move to assist. They may have intel we need."_

"You heard her, guys. Keep those civilians alive." Jun turned to the other two and promptly jumped off the ledge with Six quickly following him.

Garrus simply stared at where they were and where they landed before beginning to mutter, "Crazy Spartans jumping off cliffs. Even worse than Blackwatch." Then he too followed suit and jumped. Thankfully it wasn't a terribly large jump but it did jar him even when he tucked and rolled before joining the other two along with the militia.

"Give us a hand! Bastards just keep comin'." One of the troopers shouted upon seeing the trio. The trio merely took out an Elite minor and two Jackals that popped from behind their defensive position on the hilltop. Six took off at a sprint and vaulted over one of the lowest walls before twisting on one of his heels and smashing his other leg into a Skirmisher that attempted to sneak up on him. Garrus saw another Skirmisher on a nearby roof aiming at Six and promptly put a bullet through his skull for the attempt before joining Six and the group of militia who had cleared out the area while Jun took care of the plasma turret within the Phantom and an Elite major who jumped onto the wall only to fall backward along with most of his brain. By this point, there were only Grunts left to man the defenses on the hilltop station courtyard and they didn't even bother since they were running about in fear. Seeing as it might be a waste of bullets, at least from Garrus' point of view, Six had promptly chased down the few Covies that remained and bashed them over the head or snapped their necks. By the time he was done, the only living beings at the station were the recon trio and the four militia they had saved.

"Little more action than we're used to." One of the militia spoke up as soon as Jun arrived. "You Spartans are good in a fight."

"What are you doing here?" Jun questioned. "Whole area's supposed to be evacuated."

"Didn't like leaving it to someone else to protect our home. So we came back, for this." At which point the militia indicated a pair of briefcases that another one of the troopers had pulled up from a drainage in the courtyard. "We have 'em hidden all over the territory." The first trooper continued and when the briefcases were opened, the Spartans and Turian understood. Inside the briefcases were various UNSC weapons.

"You're rebels?" Garrus spoke up for the first time since they joined the troopers. As a Turian, Garrus had learned of the Turian Unification Wars. These wars had been fought before the Hierarchy had joined the Citadel Council. At the time, the colonies were actually free worlds, until Palaven tried to unite them. Obviously some of these free worlds didn't take to the idea and tried to fight back. Palaven won the war but there were still terrorist cells on different Turian colonies that fought for independence from the homeworld. When the Citadel Council got involved in the Human-Covenant War, many learned the humans were going through their own version of the Unification Wars known as the Insurrection before the Covenant came. Garrus hadn't come across any rebels before and considering how the Insurrection kind of stalled out with the Covenant's arrival, he didn't know what was the proper thing to do in this situation.

The spokesman for the militia group merely stared at Garrus. "We're not Innies. We just didn't believe that the UNSC could and would defend us when we needed it so we took matters into our own hands. Obviously we were proven right to an extent. We certainly don't trust any aliens to help us defend our homes." Garrus started to growl at this. Of course the Allies would defend the people of Reach just like any other world under attack by the Covenant. Even if these men did needed the weapons, they didn't have to steal them, there were proper channels to go through to get certain weapons that could have been just as helpful. Six must have sensed something caused he placed a hand on Garrus' shoulder before the Turian could voice his displeasure.

"You know this stuff is stolen?" Jun intervened while Six helped Garrus calm down.

"What? You gonna arrest me?" The trooper scoffed at the idea. Garrus himself considered the possibility but frankly in war, the laws and therefore the punishments were harsher than they would have been in peacetime. In the Hierarchy, insurgents like these who proved to be problematic would usually be shot on sight since it would be a waste of both time and resources just to see them placed in prison by the proper authorities while the soldiers were on a time critical mission.

"No. Gonna steal it back." Jun said with a smug smile in his voice. That certainly shocked everybody for a few seconds before the militia troopers began to genuinely smile.

"Well, since you helped us defend our homes, we'll help you to the best of our abilities. Help yourselves." The lead trooper spoke. Jun proceeded to take the sniper rifle for extra parts and ammo while Six took the rocket launcher. A few of the troopers who didn't have anything other than Magnum pistols took the rifles that were left. While everybody was in a better mood, Garrus just grunted in surrender at this. Apparently the UNSC were far more lenient than the Hierarchy in regards to possible insurgents but frankly he couldn't afford to cause any problems now so he left it be. Then something caught his eye in the distance. He turned to look at it and what he saw made him go alert.

"Hey guys." Garrus said with alarm in his voice. "We've got company." Everybody turned to the area of the sky he was pointing at and sure enough, two more Phantoms were flying down toward the station.

"Everybody, get into defensive positions! NOW!" Jun began snapping out orders. The trio of snipers and the four militia troopers scattered into different positions, on roofs, inside buildings, and behind walls or crates. They were going to prepare a welcome the Covenant won't forget. The Covenant forces came from two sides of the base hoping to crush the humans between the two forces. But as they climbed up the hill, they noticed how deathly quiet it was. Nothing moved and the Elites ordered their Jackals and Grunts to spread out. For the next minute the Covies scattered through the station but found nothing, but when the officers radioed in to ask how the search was going, they found less soldiers than before. Then a shower of sniper bullets shot through the heads of the Elites. The first three died fast, the remaining officers tried to figure out where the shots came from but where gunned down by both sniper shots and automatic gunfire. The Jackals tried to put themselves back to back while putting out a shield while the Grunts once again began to panic at the ambush. Most of them died, the Jackals survived for a bit longer but a few well-placed shots either killed them outright or forced them out of defense which in turn left them open to attack. By the time ambush was over, most of the Covenant in the station had been killed and those few surrounding it, were taken care of rather quickly.

"Glad that's over with." Garrus huffed from the slight exertion brought on by the dodging and moving around during the ambush. "But now that it's over, where do we go from here?" He looked to Jun.

"Nothing here but that lake." Jun pointed out and it might have looked like the end if the two didn't see Six head to the lead trooper that had spoken for the rest and began to talk to him or at least it appeared that way. After a few seconds the militia turned toward Jun and Garrus.

"That road leads to a hydro-electric plant, but the gate doesn't work." He pointed to a small road that went over the ditch and a solid wall of concrete before disappearing beyond the gate to the plant.

"Alternate route?" Jun asked.

"We use the riverbed to smuggle rations, weapons..."

"Basically anything the Allies considers contraband." Garrus said.

"Basically." The trooper shrugged like it was no big deal.

"Show us." Jun commanded and like that, the militia troopers led the way. It wasn't a long walk certainly. They group of seven went over the covered bridge and rounded the boulders along the road until they came up to the concrete wall with the road placed on a top that led to the plant's gate. On the side of the walled road closest to the station was the shores of the lake but on the other side was a dried out riverbed and a virtually unnoticeable path that went down to the river bottom.

"There's the riverbed, guys. Let's see where it goes." Jun said before marching down the path. Everybody else followed in quick procession and as they moved further down the riverbed, they found twisted trees, eroded boulders, and small green flares to led the way. The walls of the ravine closed in further.

"Where does this riverbed lead?" Jun asked.

"Straight to the hydro plant. We dammed this river up forty-five years ago. Plant powers every settlement in the territory. Shame if it all gets wasted." The lead militia trooper answered.

"Doing what we can." Garrus put in. But even as they continued to talk, a sound bounced through the canyon walls. The snipers turned their heads up to see a Phantom passing overhead.

"Hold up. Covie dropship, take cover." Jun whispered and everybody instantly hid themselves behind trees, boulders, and the single rock arch that crossed over the river. The Phantom's lights began to shine down the riverbed, searching every crevice it could see. The light passed over the rock arch and down the riverbed where a few of the men hid. The searchlight passed over rocks and trees and the men hiding behind them crouched further into themselves if only to make sure they didn't get spotted. The light paused for a second and everyone held their breath in fear. Then the light moved on and the Phantom passed by them. Everybody proceeded to release a collective sigh of relief.

"OK, clear. Let's move." Jun spoke up again as soon as the danger had passed. Nobody argued and the group continued down the riverbed trail. They passed under a second rock arch before reaching a large natural cave in the walls of the cliff. The trail continued through the tunnel and the group moved through with all the haste required. It wasn't long before they came out on the other side onto a cliff ledge overlooking a vast and deep canyon. But it was what lay on the other side that caught their attention for on the far side of the canyon was the hydroelectric plant and in the middle of it was a giant spire producing a large and glowing sphere of plasma energy that seemed to radiate something other than the usual plasma shield.

"Kat, are you seeing this? Covenant structure, kind of a big pylon. Heavily fortified." Jun instantly radioed, his helmet capturing the images.

 _"That's the source of our dark zone."_ Kat's voice came in along with the info that they had gathered before the recon about the dark zone and what may have been in it. Being a dark zone, obviously there hadn't been much info in the first place.

"OK...consider it gone." Jun said with fierce determination.

 _"Negative, stick a remote det charge on it. Command's planning something big, they say that pylon ties it down."_ Kat finished before cutting off contact.

"We gonna blow it?" One of the troopers asked. Garrus almost glared at the man until he realized that the trooper didn't hear what Kat said over the radio since he wasn't on the same frequency.

"We're gonna clear the area, and I'm gonna plant a remote det charge. You want to provide some cover, go right ahead." Jun answered the man's question.

"Jun, it might be helpful to see if we can connect to any Covenant network regarding the pylons. It could help in the attack tomorrow. I could hack into it, see if there is anything of worth in there." Garrus pointed out. The Spartan briefly considered the Turian's argument before nodding in agreement.

"Very well then. Just make sure to be quick about and not try to give away anything. This is a stealth mission after all." Jun said. With that done, the group of seven moved down the trail to a bridge farther down. Covenant defenses soon began to appear, no doubt an attempt to keep out any unwanted visitors. The three snipers were the closest to the bridge and therefore saw what was waiting for them. A number of Grunts were sleeping around the Covenant crates and a single Elite minor guarded the bridge. Jun looked at Six before making a few hand signals and pointing at the bridge. Six merely nodded and went off. A few seconds later, the Elite had moved to look over the bridge and into the canyon when Six struck. The Spartan had grabbed the Elite's head with both hands, shutting its mouth before it could scream and then twisting. There was the sound of a snap and the Elite went limp the Spartan's hands before being unceremoniously tossed over the edge without a care. Four Grunts soon followed the dead Elite and the flash of a green light on their HUDs alerted Jun and Garrus that the way was clear. The remaining six crossed over the bridge and moved toward the pylon. Once they were directly under it Six disappeared into the gravity lift and seconds later, the sounds of two more dying Grunts entered the group's collective ears.

"Alright men," Jun started. "We're about to reveal ourselves so get into positions, pick your targets, and watch each other's backs. Understand." The troopers nodded in agreement and everybody got ready. After one quite, tense minute of preparation with the three trained snipers up on top of the pylon and the four militia underneath, the recon group all acknowledged they were ready. Ten seconds later, all hell broke loose. Grunts were gunned down. Jackals forced into corners to defend themselves. The Elites were always the luckier members of the fight and the few that remained fired back, forcing the Allies to find cover behind the columns and legs of the pylon. An Elite Ultra appeared and began firing on the pylon's defenders with his concussion rifle. He would have just been a general overall nuisance if it wasn't the small amount of reinforcements he brought with him. Fresh, disciplined Grunts and Jackals took up positions where their dead brethren once stood and the Concussion Rifle began to blow the troopers out of defense below. Seeing the troopers getting in harm's way, Six jumped off the pylon balcony and sprinted toward the Ultra. Jun had switched to a rifle and began shooting the heads of any Grunts or Jackals on the second story of the plant while Garrus had taken one of plasma turrets and gunned down any Covies in sight. Plasma, bullets, and glowing purple needles flew everywhere.

Six punched the Elite in the face and proceeded to beat him with his fists. The Ultra began to fight back by attempting to butt Six with his concussion rifle. The Spartan began to fist fight the Elite, dodging and blocking its attacks. But an unarmed Spartan is faster than an armed Elite and he proceeded to beat the shit out of the Ultra by using his body weight against him and then slamming him into the wall of a nearby building. The dazed Elite had no chance and dropped the concussion rifle after his wrist had been grabbed and slammed into the wall with him. Six then continuously beat the Ultra using both his fists and the wall until the alien was either dead or unconscious. Then he grabbed the concussion rifle and proceeded to tear into the enemy ranks with it. They were mostly composed of Grunts and Jackals now since the rest of the Elites were dead and against a concussion rifle, they didn't stand a chance. The smoke cleared and when it did, it revealed a battlefield full of the dead bodies of the Covenant.

"All clear, Six." Jun and Garrus both jumped down the pylon and began to fiddle with a part of the pylon's legs. "This is gonna take a minute, keep your eyes peeled while me and Garrus do what we need to." With that, the now shortened group of four troopers and one Spartan now stood their ground, guarding the two other snipers who were busy trying to do what they needed to do. It was almost peaceful again had it not been for the Phantom that showed up a minute later. One of the militia was on top with a plasma turret, firing at the side doors, the pilot or engine area, and the Phantom's gun on the bottom of the dropship. The gun broke off the Phantom and fell into the bottom of the canyon before it could do any damage but it wasn't the main problem the defenders faced. The Phantom had stopped at a higher elevation than it normally would have and when the doors opened, out dropped a pair of Hunters, followed by an Elite Spec-Ops team. The Elites were rather easy to deal with as two were shot in the head before they reached the ground and one was gunned down by the plasma turret. The last Elite was shot at by the remaining three militia at the same time and the combo fire took down its shields quickly before it fell along with its brothers. But the Hunters had followed right after the Elites and despite a combination of fire from the plasma turret, Six's sniper rifle, and the remaining weaponry from the militia, it wasn't enough. One Hunter aimed at the turret with its arm cannon and the militia barely escaped before turret and the area around it was bathed in green plasma. The second did the same with the area around the legs, forcing the militia and Six into cover.

Six, seeing that the bullets alone wouldn't do much damage, ran around to the defenders, grabbing all the grenades they had collected along the way. The last two militia, he also took their belts and strapped all the grenades he gathered on to them before activating one on each belt and throwing them at the Hunters. The grenades flew through the air and landed at the Hunter's feet. Seconds later they detonated, filling the air around the with smoke. When it cleared, it revealed that the Hunter's back armor had fallen off, revealing the hundreds of worms that made up their beings. The Hunters and militia continued to exchange fire though the fighting itself still remained one sided with the militia forced to hide and gaining minor burns from the splash damage done by the plasma. If it continued like this, the Hunters would kill them and in turn could threaten Jun's and Garrus' work on the pylon. But everybody forgot one thing. Where had Noble Six had gone?

One rocket closely followed by another flew from behind a boulder right into the Hunter's backs. An explosion of fire, shrapnel, and smoke obscured the battlefield once more and when it was over it showed the two dead Hunter bodies, mostly intact save for their burnt backs.

"Well, looks like you didn't need us." Garrus casually quipped as he strolled out from under the pylon before radioing Kat. "Noble Two, we got the info we needed from the pylon."

"Recon Bravo to Noble Two, charge has also been placed." Jun also mentioned as he replaced the panel to the pylon's leg.

 _"Somewhere inconspicuous, I hope?"_ Kat answered.

"Stuck it inside the pylon's power supply." Jun said with absolute confidence.

 _"Alright. Keep pushing into the dark zone. Command wants to know what the Covenant are hiding."_

"There's a gate to the southeast of the hydro plant." Jun pointed out. The group began moving toward it in response as they realized it was the only way forward now.

 _"Copy. Uploading security codes to you now."_ Kat spoke as the team reached the gate.

"Okay, got 'em. Unlocking the gate." Jun replied as he accessed the panel and began punching code in on the keypad. A bright green light confirmed the correct code and the gate began to whir open in response

 _"Recon Bravo, you're heading into the dark zone now."_ Kat radioed. The comms glitched a little as the effects of the dark zone tried to take effect on their communication systems.

"Understood." Jun finished before the radio cut out. With the end hopefully in sight, the Spartans, the Turian, and the militia headed through the gate. They didn't expect to immediately meet resistance but it was just another sign that they were nearing their destination. A Phantom had been holding its position nearby and dropping off some troops. The Allied forces once again engaged Covenant troops and the result was complete annihilation. It had been a small group and they had been taken out by the snipers. Even as they continued, the resistance they faced only grew larger in the form of Phantoms and Shade turrets. The Phantoms eventually moved off when they had offloaded their passengers but the Shade turrets proved problematic.

"Shade! Six, Garrus! Fire and maneuver. Hit' em from the side." Jun called out. The two moved from their positions to do so and began sniping the Grunts manning the turrets and any other Covies that were too close to replace their dead gunners. Six had to get in close to the enemy several times to prevent the militia from getting killed. It took a long time and the Shades didn't make things any easier but after Six fired his last rocket, neutralizing the last Shade, they were able to advance further with no serious complications. The valley was as clear of Covenant forces but they had to move fast when the spotted multiple Banshees starting to fly overhead, not attacking but close enough to be a potential problem.

"Lotta air traffic around here, Six. I think we're getting warm." Jun mentioned as they came to the mountain wall again and advanced into the available tunnel. The trail ended on a cliff edge overlooking a valley and after emerging onto the other side of the cliff and going prone and crawling forward to get to the cliff edge, they saw it. A Covenant Tyrant was standing in front of a massive Covenant landing zone with the small figures representing troops getting on and off numerous Phantoms and Spirit dropships. Two Covenant corvettes were holding position near the landing zone and to make it worse, the group could see an additional two Covenant Spires in the distance.

"What is the term you humans use? Jackpot?" Garrus said at the sight. Jun merely gave a short nod in response.

"Transmitting visual." Six finally spoke for the first time since this mission began as his and Jun's helmets began to record and send images to the Allied forces getting ready for the attack tomorrow.

"You seeing this, Kat?" Jun asked.

 _"Confirmed. Receiving Noble Three and Noble Six's live visual of a Covenant strike force."_

"That's no strike force, it's an invading army. If we're gonna smother this thing, we need to go in hard and fast."

 _"Agreed. All recon teams disengage and fall back. Sun will be up in a few hours...and it's going to be a very busy day."_ On that note, the trio that had traveled across the territory went back for their militia companions so they could all back to the pump station and get picked up by the UNSC. As they left, Garrus couldn't help but worry about what was going to happen tomorrow. He knew what Reach meant to the humans and he respected them for their strengths, despite how odd many of them could be. He wished he could help more but he most likely wouldn't be participating in the attack on the ridge in the morning. Still he helped and he hoped that the info he got would help the Allies in the coming battle.

"Hurry up rookie or you'll be left behind." Jun's voice broke through Garrus' thoughts and forced him to look up.

"C'mon Three. You know my codename isn't rookie. I get enough of that from the rest of the Blackwatch members." Garrus said with a growing smile.

"I never did see it in the info regarding you. Was covered in too much black ink." Jun said. "Well what is it then."

"According to the translations into your language, my codename is Archangel." Garrus replied and for a moment he felt a sense of pride and strength in himself.

"Still going to call you rookie." Jun said and Garrus instantly deflated once again and began cursing the Spartan in his language all the way back to the pump station.

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 **2630 Hours, August 1st, 2552 (Military Calendar) / CASTLE Base, Viery Territory, Reach, Epsilon Eridani System**

Around the same time that the reconnaissance of Szurdok Ridge was being finished up, a group of some of the most important military, political, and scientific people in the Alliance, were meeting in under CASTLE Base to discuss the results of the mission. Included in the meeting were Drs. Elizabeth Halsey and Mordin Solus in the flesh. Appearing by QED were Admirals Cole and Arterius, the Council, and Lord Hood.

"As you can see, the Covenant have fully established a foothold on Reach and according to the data Agent Vakarian gathered from the pylon, the dark zone extends to include a large area around the Szurdok Ridge." Mordin Solus pointed out as the images filled the groups personal screens. "Covenant numbers and strength go far beyond initial estimates and dark zone range indicates that a small fleet or a large ship could be cloaked in Reach's atmosphere without us even noticing. We need reinforcements sent immediately."

Cole instantly spoke up, "We're currently sending at least sixty percent of the UNSC fleet to Reach to help as of now. They'll likely arrive within three days and more will follow within the week. That's provided of course, that the Covenant don't attack in force too early.

"I'm currently recalling any Spartans off planet to help in the defense of Reach." Halsey added. "What can we expect from the Council's forces?"

Desolas stepped up. "The Turian Sixth Fleet and a large number of Spectres are ready and able to travel. We'll be there alongside the first UNSC reinforcements in a few days. Unfortunately we'll only be able to bring another thirty percent of the Council's military with us after that.

"Why is that Admiral?" Lord Hood asked. The Asari Councilor, Tevos, came forward.

"We are preparing to send reinforcements but you have to understand that Reach is not the only Allied planet currently under attack at the moment. Noveria is currently besieged by a Covenant force as well and that planet supplies us with most of our experimental prototypes. We have reports that there are enemy forces on the ground at Illium. The majority of the Attican Traverse has either gone dark or gone up in flames and we just received word that the Covenant are nearing the heart of Batarian space. That's not the worst news however.

"What is it then?" Cole asked.

"As you all know," Sparatus came in at this point, "the Terminus Systems have never been the most united in regards to the war effort. While the major factions in the area are still helping in that regard by providing soldiers, ships, and supplies, it's the smaller factions that are proving to be problematic here."

"Did some of our people join forces with the Covenant?!" Desolas legendary fury was beginning to show, his robotic fist clenching at the thought of members of his own species going traitor.

"No, the Covenant did that job for us actually." Sparatus chuckled darkly. "First few pirate groups that tried to join them were wiped out as a warning. But the point is that these minor factions are either disappearing altogether or stepping up on their raids on Allied worlds. The members choosing the first option are not an issue now but the raids are disrupting supply and communication lines between Council space and the Terminus. If we lose the Terminus Systems altogether then are current military strength will be reduced by a fifth at best and a third at worst. All of these problems combined is why we are only able to send a fraction of our forces. But we all agree that Reach is too important to lose at the moment and have confirmed Desolas' choices to act as he should for the alliance." Desolas took a slight bow at that. Meanwhile, Lord Hood turned toward the pair of doctors that were currently on Reach.

"Doctor Solus." Said Salarian turned toward him. "You said that the dark zone could contain either a small fleet or a large ship. Could you hypothesize what ship or ships might exist within such an area?" The Salarian brought up the images again with all the info at his disposal. After a few seconds he faced Lord Hood again.

"Multiple corvettes, small in size and firepower. Perfect for stealth missions onto planets but only for short term and wouldn't defend well against Reach's current military strength. Will need a capital ship to act as flagship but not so many capital ships as to reveal themselves intentionally. Seventy one percent chance that the flagship within the dark zone could fit the conditions for known CSO-class supercarrier." The doctor finished before suddenly looking at Halsey and saying, "Operation: Red Flag requires the capture and disablement of either a CAS-class assault carrier or the CSO-class supercarrier, does it not?" The entire room went silent as the implications began to sink in. They had all been briefed on the possibility of Red Flag but they didn't expect it to kind of walk into their laps like this.

Lord Hood turned to Halsey with a smirk on his face. "Doctor Halsey, see to it that the Spartans are ready for such a possibility. If what Doctor Solus says is true, then Red Flag will be ready to go earlier than we predicted." Halsey nodded her head in understanding. "Until then, I'm hereby ordering the evacuation of all civilians from the Epsilon Eridani System immediately. Good luck and Godspeed admirals." And like that, the QED's shut off as everybody prepared for the battle to come.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **2630 Hours, August 1st, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Holy City of High Charity, Unknown Location**

To say Zo Reskan was furious upon hearing the news of the Arbiter's attack was the equivalent of saying water was wet.

One of the most massive understatements one could make in their lifetime.

The Prophet of Clarity had been nearing apoplectic when he heard of what Ripa 'Moramee had done on the Council world of Asteria. Sure the Arbiter attempted to spin to where the Council appeared to be the guilty party but Zo didn't buy it and when he did some searching, he found out the truth. The Arbiter had deliberately and without provocation, attacked a garden world, killed anybody on it through glassing, and did it all with the blessings of the Hierarchs. He didn't fully remember what happened after he got the news but apparently his aides had noticed because they never bothered him for the rest of the day after. The next morning he had woken up in his bedroom which had been trashed as if a Jiralhanae had gone on a rampage. Suffice to say that he took a few days off afterwards but what mattered more was that Zo had the blinders torn off. The Hierarchs didn't care about ignoring their religious duty to try and convert the Council aliens or the numerous deaths that now occurred because of their collective stupidity.

Yes, Zo Reskan just mentally called and fully believed that the High Prophets of the Covenant were idiots and if he were able to, he would had plenty more than that to say.

Since that day, Zo had been attempting to find out what was going on because whenever the Hierarchs got involved in something, Zo couldn't help but get shivers of disgust. He attended every meeting now and tried to figure out the angles the Prophets constantly played. He was also forced to become more secluded and subtle. One of the consequences of this had been the sad fact that he no longer trusted his Sangheili friends like he did before. He still cared for them, learned what he could, and talked with them like old times but now he had to constantly study them just to make sure they weren't spies sent by Truth or religious zealots that wouldn't listen to what he had to say. Over time, most of them had proven to be true to him and became something of a bodyguard and a spy ring. He gathered what info he could from them without being obvious and they supplied what they could. But he needed more sources, he needed more people he could depend on and one day he found somebody that could help in that matter. A Kig-Yar named Sig Raan that worked in his official area fit the profile he was looking for and seemed to be hiding something important from everyone. It would be a long shot but he had to be sure and even if he was wrong, he had a host of Sangheili outside willing to kill to protect him. All he would have to do was say the word. So, confident his plan would work, Zo had invited the female Kig-Yar to join him for a dinner while suggesting they talk about the various cultures and seeing if they could be used as a template for their work.

A knock at the door brought him back to the present and it was with a forced smile for anybody watching that he went to the door. His Sangheili guards stood ready and as soon as he appeared, they opened the doorway, revealing the thin, gangly figure of the Kig-Yar that Zo had invited.

"Prophet of Clarity." The Jiralhanae said with plenty of respect but little of the reverence.

' _Oh, she'll do.'_ Zo thought before introducing himself. "Welcome to my humble abode Sig Raan. Hope you don't mind the food. I studied little about Kig-Yar cuisine so that particular branch of skills is rather lacking. But enough about that, come, sit and eat up." The Kig-Yar scientist promptly sat down at the table and began to dig in. Her table manners could use some work but Zo didn't complain and ate his meal as well. As they ate, Zo attempted to strike up a conversation.

"I hope the food is to your liking." Sig Raan only nodded in response so continued, "I recently became interested in one particular aspect of Jiralhanae culture through one of their literary works. As somebody who as been well traveled before joining our project, I was hoping you could tell more about their species beyond the general knowledge already in the Covenant data centers." Sig Raan tore another piece of meat off the bone and chewed it, looking all the while like she was considering whether or not she cared about answering Zo's questions. Zo decided to push forward by bringing out the book he had been talking about. Truthfully he had to break a few laws just to get it but as a read and a conversation starter, it had been worth it. As her eyes descended on the book, Sig Raan took slower and slower chews until she swallowed his food and put what was left on the plate.

"What's this about?" She asked with a strange calm and a growing flame in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Zo asked innocently. The Kig-Yar threw the plate aside where it shattered into the wall. The Sangheili guards came in and pointed their halberds at the scientist but Zo merely raised his hand and sent them off again. They hesitated but in the end they obeyed and left, leaving the two in the dining room once more.

"Why do you have that book with you? Do you even know the punishment for carrying a copy of it?" She asked with anger seeping into her voice.

"No you misunderstand me. I'm interested in the Jiralhanae's works, specifically those related to this writer."

"You do know that book is banned according to your people's laws." Atriox pointed out with barely restrained fury.

"The Hierarch's laws. I didn't vote for them. Besides they could prove helpful to your work." Zo successfully refuted while delivering the subtle message. Sig Raan's eyes narrowed in response and confusion entered her eyes. "I do not know what you are talking about." She claimed with absolute surety. But her body language betrayed her. She was jumpy and Zo had to prevent a grin from spreading across his face.

"Though I can understand why they would ban it. The general message the author delivers is to always question everything. Never simply take it on faith alone. Quite a powerful message, especially when it was written at a time not long after the Covenant came across the Jiralhanae. As I understand it, the author was someone close to your master."

Sig Raan swallowed noticeably, his limbs shaking ever so slightly. "He's been dead for years now."

"At the Hierarch's hands no doubt. But you and I both know the truth." Zo stated as he poured himself a glass. "When I got the book, I looked up what I could find on the author. Tried as a heretic and murdered by Tartarus soon after escaping captivity. It's a shame considering I would have liked meeting him." He looked at Sig Raan and the Kig-Yar had been seemingly shocked into silence. "I wished to know more about why the author was influenced to write this. You don't have to tell me now but I am curious."

"And what, you'll never tell a soul? How do I know this isn't some trick to trap me into saying something and getting me killed later."

"Because I got this from your house." Zo said without batting an eye. Sig only grew pale at that but Zo wasn't done. "But more than that, its because I know that you have followers backing you up, I know that with the resources you have gathered you plan to do something big, I know that you are involved in some way, so I know that if I say anything to get you in trouble, I may be killed as a result. After all, you know where I live now. My life is just as much in your hands as yours is in mine. But come, the hour is late for philosophical matters and you have plenty of time to make your decision, I won't rush you." Zo stood up and began leading the Sig Raan toward the door. Just as he opened it he turned around and passed the Kig-Yar a card. "Here, this is my personal call number. If you ever want to confide in me, then merely call or message this number. I'll wait." Sig merely stumbled out the door as if she were in a daze.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked, genuinely curious and suspicious. Zo had asked himself why he was doing this long ago and he was still asking himself. Was it for the Covenant and all those innocent people who were a part of it. Tonight he made his decision, choosing to do it for the latter and more.

"Because I can't trust the Hierarchs to do what is right for our people any longer." He answered honestly. Sig merely nodded in response and began to walk off into the street. But Zo stopped her once more and said, "Give this message to your master when you next speak with him. Tell him, I'm truly sorry about Viriathus." Sig Raan nodded again, her face frozen and impassive but her eyes said much more. She went off and Zo closed the door behind her, hoping the entire time that his message would get through.

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 **2630 Hours, August 1st, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Unknown Location**

Darkness encapsulated the ship's bridge nearly obscuring the lone occupant who was busy stargazing through his bridge's windows. He had been observing this war for a long time and from a distance. He had long considered the possibilities of joining the fight in defense of Humanity even if it would only be from the shadows. The humans and later their Council allies had proven to be great alone but they were even more formidable together. The Second Battle of Arcadia had been proof of that.

But there was more to worry about in the long run. How much could this influence humanity during and beyond the war. How much more danger could they be in if he or any his people got involved in all of this. There were worse dangers hiding in the shadows than the Covenant after all. He sighed in exhaustion as he looked at the data he had gathered. The Covenant were preparing to invade Reach soon but the Allies had already taken the first steps to trying to prevent the massive loss that might have occurred if they didn't know. Then his console beeped about finding something new which came in from his scans on the Covenant net. A number of reports had come up that were grabbing his scans attention and they were mostly focused around the words "sacred ring". At first he was confused but another word came up that grabbed his attention and it terrified him. Halo. It was no longer a fantasy, it was fact. The Covenant had found Halo.

Determination crystalized in his being and his eyes glowed a verdant green as he realized what he had to do. Ever since he heard the screams of millions of dying beings begin twenty-five years ago, he had helped the Allies a few rare times. It was usually in some way that made it look like the Allies had gotten a lucky break or something. But now he realized he had to get more involved because if the Covenant found Halo, then nobody was safe. So without further ado, he turned his ship through the void and begin to fly in the direction of High Charity. At the very least, he had to make sure the Covenant never got the chance to activate Halo.

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 **Holy ****! Wait? Why is my author's notes being bleeped out?**

 ***Suddenly the 10** **th** **Doctor appear out of nowhere* "It's the polite thing to do here. There are children reading this and if I'm going to make an appearance in this then I prefer they not to listen to you cursing."**

 **Okay, my author notes are being hijacked by a time traveling alien so I'll just get off this tangent and back to what I was going to say. Wow. Thank you, all of you. Over one hundred reviews. I'm not sure if it's a big thing on Fanfiction, but it's a big thing to me considering how many people are not just reading this but also encouraging me through these reviews. So again, thank you everyone for this support. Now to the individuals who've been talking to me. Now while the chapter may look like its following the original Nightfall mission from Halo Reach, there is one great big difference between my story and the canon version (other than the obvious inclusion of Garrus Vakarian). Up to you lot to find it and guess what this one difference will do to the story down the road. Happy Thanksgiving to you all, no matter where you are or from and be ready for the first chapter or two of my codex that I will publish online within a few days.**

 **Mr. Deacon: Congrats on being the 100** **th** **review for this story. You get a cookie and a special mention for your support. As for Matriarch Aethyta, I actually didn't consider anything about what to do with her. But your suggestion might make sense in a way so I'll be looking into what I can do about it. Thanks.**

 **Sam: That's mostly correct I believe and a nice addition to. Great job.**

 **Guest: All depends on where the story goes.**

 **Query: Not sure but if I can I might add it in.**

 **Ronin Kenshin: Thanks. Hope to see you reading more of this.**

 **Biotic Acolyte: Never thought of that. I'll look into it but no promises.**

 **Many Faced Mage: Quick question. Do you do that changing face thing every time? I'm not annoyed or anything and it actually makes you one of the most memorable and unique reviewers I've read so far. Just curious about it. But onto what you're saying. The introduction of the Council does not fully change events in the long run. There are battles where UNSC defeats are victories and people that died will live. But these victories are almost always pyrrhic victories and the Covenant are still pushing toward Earth so it will kind of stick to the original script in a way but there will be many changes that fit more with the story I'll write.**

 **Guest Q: Thanks for the info on the Council's weaponry, it will be very helpful in the long run. As for BSG…I can't add it. I looked up some stuff regarding its addition and while the arguments to add it in make sense, I feel that the addition of a human species plus their cultures who've formed the backbone of ancient Earth culture in the distant past would directly clash with my story's version which has the Alterans, Forerunners, and Goa'uld directly affecting ancient Earth culture. In short, I think it is rather confusing and we technically already would have a one version of BSG in the form of the Quarians with their Geth. I will look it over some more but I didn't plan to add it into my story originally and I don't know if I ever will. The tech on the other hand, I will look up and thank you for the notes on that and don't worry about offending me. I'm still trying and I want to introduce new things and go off established paths but I don't want to overload everything considering how much I have right now.**

 **I am Lauren: Nick is the younger brother to Jane Shepard who is the Commander Shepard of this story. Just think of Jane as the main commander and Nick as a backup if you want to be blatant enough to compare them to objects.**

 **Fer82: Thanks for your points. I'm writing down a codex to fit with the story. It's a long process and I may not get everything right so thank you for pointing that out.**

 **Nipplegunz: While the ME races are willing to tolerate the UNSC's use of AI and the Council itself is interested in its use, the tech available hasn't reached that stage yet and I don't think the allies would appreciate it overall. So nothing from Infinite Warfare or Titanfall. As for Destiny tech, that's always been a maybe for me so I'm still looking into it.**

 **Reichenfaust: Thanks for the info. Considering its not in the original canon universes I'm writing about, I'll look it up, get an idea about it, and see how it all fits in. But thank you for that.**

 **Orionastro: Thank you.**

 **Capt. Schroller: Yes and no. Yes its bad cause your basing somebody else's work off of a single part of it. I did mention before that there would be little of the StarCraft universe in the first place, like some tech and people you might recognize. No it's not as bad because it's your choice on whether you want to read this in the first place and I certainly won't force you to do so. All I can say is that you might be missing something by waiting for a single part that will take a while to materialize though I do commend your patience to do so.**

 **Red Qim: I'll be writing a Codex book that will have a chapter dedicated to diplomatic relations.**


	8. Chapter 8: Tip of the Spear

Chapter 8: Tip of the Spear

" **Sometimes by losing the battle, you find a new way to win the war." – Donald Trump**

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 **0800 Hours, August 2, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Szurdok Ridge, Ütközet, Viery Territory, Reach, Epsilon Eridani System**

The rising sun illuminated the landscape of the Viery Territory in a golden light. The dawn of a new day has always been considered to be a symbol of hope and new beginnings. Today however was evidently different for the men and women of Reach. Last night's recon by members of Noble Team as well as other scouts had revealed the highly large Covenant presence that had been hidden within the Viery Territory. With most of the area itself having been evacuated a week earlier due to the attacks on outlying settlements and outposts, the countryside was thankfully empty of the majority of the civilian population. As such, there was nobody in region that could witness either the normally natural sunrise or the rather unnatural battle that was to occur on the valley floor. If anybody had been nearby to see it, they would have seen the large military convoy consisting of more than thirty Warthogs, a Mongoose, four Scorpions and Arclite Tanks, along with half a dozen Falcons and Valkyries plus two Pelicans advancing across the bare plain. One of the Warthogs in the lead of the formation happened to be driven by the Spartan Kat with her teammate Six sitting beside her and a single man riding in the back swiveling the machine gun around to cover them from any attack. Flying above in one of the many Falcons was the rest of Noble Team, ready and waiting for the battle to begin.

" _It appears that Noble Team's discovery last night was not an anomaly."_ Auntie Dot notified Noble Team and anybody else on the same frequency as the convoy moved closer to its target. _"Large Covenant deployments have occurred undetected, and we are now under attack across the Viery Territory, including orbital defenses. As per the Winter Contingency, we are countering on every front. Noble's reconnaissance has also identified sophisticated Covenant army hiding canopies, and has been pinpointed what's believed to be a landing zone for additional Covenant forces, the origin of which is yet to be determined."_

 _"That landing zone has been tagged by UNSC command as a Priority One target."_ Commander Carter radioed everybody as the Falcon hovered over the Warthog containing the two Spartans.

 _"Det-charge link is loud and clear! Looks like it's time to bake that cake we made last night!"_ Jun called down to the two Spartans as they neared the cliff where the pylon at the dam was located.

"Copy that. Acquiring signal lock on the pylon." Kat responded as they came in sight of the dam with the pylon. "Detonating in three, two..." At the unvoiced one, Kat pressed the button on a detonator she had been carrying that signaled the charges on the distant pylon. An explosion of orange fire erupted from the cliff where the pylon once existed and like that, the Battle at Szurdok Ridge began.

The Covenant must have seen them coming earlier because as soon as the pylon disappeared in the explosion, six Banshees began swooping down on the convoy from the front, firing both their main plasma guns and plasma cannons. One of these shots happened to strike the Warthog in front of Six and Kat's ride. The Warthog promptly burst into flames and the combined momentum of its attempts to drive forward and the bomb's blast backwards caused it to flip through the air, striking the ground once in front of the Spartan's ride before flying over them and disappearing in the dust behind them. The sky began to rain plasma from the Wraith mortars firing from across the nearby chasm as the Covenant artillery followed suit. The Allied charge was now facing heavy resistance as Ghosts appeared on the flanks and began to take potshots at the UNSC vehicles forcing many to split off into other directions as the charge began to disintegrate into a lethal version of bumper cars. The gunners on the Warthogs and Scorpion tanks could do nothing but spin in circles trying to take out any Covie vehicles that came close enough. Nearby, a single two lane bridge crossed the canyon and several Warthogs, seeing the opportunity to harass the Covenant's artillery line, attempted to make the crossing. Amongst them was the Warthog carrying Kat and Six.

Three Warthogs were making it across the bridge and one more was in front of the Spartan's ride when the bridge exploded under the third Warthog due to a Wraith's mortar. The center of the bridge exploded in fire and concrete, taking the occupants of the third Warthog and obscuring the soldiers on the other two that had been ahead. The fourth that was in front of the Spartan's own vehicle veered out of the way leaving the Spartans to attempt the jump. A small broken ramp formed in the moments after the explosion passed and through the leftover smoke and flame and it was through this that the Spartan's Warthog flew through when they hit the ramp.

"Incoming!" Six called out.

"Might want to hold onto something!" Kat yelled to the two other riders.

A moment of weightlessness followed as the Warthog hit the ramp and jumped into the air before gravity took hold once more and the Warthog's momentum carried forward. The bumper of the Warthog slammed into the far end of the broken bridge and the Warthog itself then proceeded to spin out of control, temporarily knocking out the occupants inside for a few seconds.

When Six woke up from the crash, it was to the sight of a M319 Individual Grenade Launcher lying right next to him. His vision had cleared up more and his mind realized how he got into this position. Pushing himself up and turning his still pounding head toward the destroyed bridge, Six watched as another Warthog attempted to make the jump across. They never succeeded, hell it was a miracle the Spartans had made it across in the first place. The Warthog flew through the air much like the Spartan's own had and hit the edge of the bridge bumper first. However they didn't have the momentum to carry them forward and the Warthog begun to tilt backwards into the canyon until it disappeared from sight with only the screams of the trapped soldiers still onboard letting him know what had happened. A Falcon flew overhead and engaged a few Covenant troops before it was shot down in a ball of flame. On the adjacent plateau across the bridge and river were dozens of Warthogs and Ghosts clashing in a titanic vehicular battle. Under the effects of a possible concussion brought on by crashing a flying Warthog, it was rather surreal.

"Six!" Kat's voice knocked Six out of the reverie of seeing the soldier's deaths and turned toward the blue female Spartan.

"Can you hear me? Six, you alright? I could use some help!" Kat yelled once more as she approached him and Six saw her taking cover moving toward the broken remains of their Warthog to protect themselves against the large numbers of Covenant infantry that were heading toward them from a nearby Spirit drop. Six got up, grabbing the grenade launcher that had been found beside him.

"On my way." He said before moving to catch up. The Covies had moved into range and began firing upon their position and it was only the quick movement of the two slamming into the Warthog that saved them from the small plasma and needle shots. However their ears soon picked up a more horrifying and recognizable sound. Two Banshees began another approach onto their position and one proceeded to fire their plasma cannon at the Warthog. Six had jumped out of the way and toward a nearby boulder. The vehicle exploded in a shower of sparks seconds later and it was only Kat's armor lock that prevented her from taking any damage when she couldn't move away. Six fired back with his grenade launcher in retaliation. The grenade sailed through the air and exploded right on the Banshee's nose. The UNSC grenade launcher's ammo must have had an EMP effect on any vehicles that the grenade hit because the Banshee immediately took a nosedive into the ground next to the canyon before bouncing / skidding down into the canyon itself. The sounds of an explosion soon followed signaling the Banshee's destruction. The second Banshee was still active though and the Covenant infantry were closing in. Then just as the Banshee had come in close enough to fire upon both of them, it stopped in midair.

The entire battle somewhat halted at the sight of the stalled Banshee floating in the air. It wasn't until they looked closer at it that they realized that the Banshee was surrounded by a blue field that appeared to be constantly shimmering and moving. In that instant, everybody knew what it was but not who was doing it and in the end it wouldn't matter due to what happened next. The field around the Banshee forced it downward at an angle and in an instant the Banshee, two Shade turrets, and all the occupants within the three vehicles went up in flames. The next seconds were chaotic as a figure dressed in UNSC fatigues, leaped out from behind several boulders and proceeded to use a combination of both martial arts and biotics to pummel every single Covie that came within range of him, killing them with either a well-placed blow to the head or a snap of the neck. Those far away were consecutively shot one by one when the figure's closer opponents had been knocked down until only a single Elite Ultra was left. The Elite and the stranger both ran toward each other with the Elite firing his gun at the figure. The figure merely jumped and summersaulted over each shot and when both were in close range, they proceeded to beat each other. Or rather, the Elite attempted to beat the stranger but the figure merely punched the Elite in several places, bypassing the shields altogether. The punches struck the Elite between its armor pieces on one side which suddenly rendered the Elite's right arm useless. The Elite swung wildly with his left good arm but the figure merely weaved through the punch and hit the Elite some more, rendering his left arm useless. The Elite then proceeded to use his legs to attack while using his immovable arms to cause problems but the figure either blocked, parried, or dodged the shots altogether while using his biotics to help him in his movements. One wild swing later and the figure was able get through the Elite's guard, slip behind the Elite itself, and snap his neck with both of his biotic powered hands.

The Spartans looked as the figure kneeled at the body of the Elite, his head lowered as if in prayer. Both still had their guns raised, ready to fire back at this strange biotic wearing UNSC fatigues in case he proved to be a threat. It was only when they got close enough to get a good look that both of them realized that the figure was their driver whom they had assumed died in the crash.

"Put your hands up slowly and take your helmet off." Kat's voice echoed out as the two Spartans neared the stranger. The stranger merely took his hand off the Elite and rose up. His hands rose up to his helmet which he slowly took off revealing a face, while definitely more humanoid than most, was distinctly alien. It was reptilian in appearance with greenish scales, red neck gills or something of the like, and eyes as black as coal. The Spartans were surprised because it was the face of a Drell, an alien race that mostly lived alongside the Hanar on the planet of Kahje. It was something of a rarity to see a Drell simply because most Drell fighters in the war were assassins. Like any trained assassin, they were good at espionage, sabotage, disguise, and various forms of fighting including martial arts. It also meant that when they fought alongside the Allies, they often wore armor that hid their appearance and their similar body structure to humans and Asari made them unnoticeable when they wanted to be.

"Do not worry." The Drell stated. "I'm here to help you."

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Kat asked as they kept their guns up.

"My name is Thane Krios and I was assigned to Reach recently by the Illuminated Primacy to help in the defense of this planet and its people. My current orders are like yours. To help in the attack of the Covenant landing site alongside other Allied forces and gain any information regarding to the invasion of Reach."

"What were you doing with that Elite?" Kat asked.

"Offering prayers. Even the wicked deserve a chance for redemption."

"Do you think that's necessary?" Six asked. As a Spartan III, he loathed the Covenant like any other soldier, perhaps more than most considering his past so the concept was a little off to him.

"We're we enemies, I would have done the same for you. I would have done no less than any other enemy I have faced." The Spartans were confused but accepted the truth of Thane's words and lowered their guns. The radio began to sound a second after they done so.

 _"Kat, Six, what's your status?"_ Carter's voice came through.

"Pylons are down, we've pushed up the hill and taken down the Covenant forces as well as a Drell assassin named Thane to support us. But we have no transport to get out of the area."

 _"Understood. Kat, be advised: ONI has ID'd two hostile anti-aircraft guns southwest of your location. A Warthog will arrive at your position in a bit to take you to your next targets."_

"Copy, Commander. New targets, Six. Go shut down those AA guns." Kat finished radioing in as a Pelican appeared over the horizon and hovered above the three of them before dropping off a Warthog with a missile turret on the back. "Commandeer that Warthog and get us there in one piece Six. I'll take shotgun. Thane you'll take the back." Both soldiers merely nodded in agreement and took their spots on the vehicle. Once they were all inside the Warthog, Six pushed on the gas and the Warthog drove off leaving behind the wrecks of several Warthogs and a Falcon besides their original ride as well as the bodies of multiple humans and Covies lying on the ground. In front of them and to the right was nothing more than the expansive terrain of Szurdok Ridge. To the left was a great cliff and the open sky as well as the sight of battle between Allied and Covie vehicles both on ground and in the sky. The drive along the road proved quiet, uneventful, and rather straightforward. The simple dirt road provided the path which the Warthog followed and it wasn't until it passed through several boulders that the damage the Covenant caused was more apparent. The bridge down the hill had been destroyed and it continued that way for a hundred or so yards. If the Warthog had not been calibrated for jumping from certain heights or driving over rough roads, the trip might have ended there.

Fortunately, it proved to be an easy obstacle for the trio to overcome and the Warthog flew over the hillside and came upon the ruined road with barely a scratch. But as they passed around the hill they came upon the sight of their target. A Falcon was flying above the line of Covenant infantry that was guarding the AA gun before it was shot down by the AA gun.

 _"Six, AA gun should be in visual range."_ Carter radioed.

 _"2 Lima 4 to Noble One, those guns are pounding us with high-velocity plasma shells!"_ Another voice came over.

 _"Which would mean a strike by the frigate Grafton is also out of the question."_ Auntie Dot added.

 _"Noble, all our birds are stuck out of range unless you can do something about those guns."_ Carter summed up.

As they were approaching the gun, a furious battle could be seen in the valley below the ridge. There were at least three Scarabs and multiple Ghosts, Wraiths, and Banshees which were exchanging fire with a large group of Warthogs, Scorpions, Arclite Siege Tanks, Goliaths, Valkyries, and Falcons. It was a madhouse down there compared to the battle that was going to begin on the ridge. Kat and Six simply proceeded to the AA gun and that is when the trio began to encounter resistance along the way to their target. Two Ghosts, a Revenant, and a Phantom along with a number of infantry proceeded to block the way, making the drive as difficult as possible. Thane's position on the back of the Warthog was well placed as the Drell proceeded to blow up the enemy ground vehicles and the guns on the Phantom. Kat's position in shotgun saw numerous Grunts, Jackals, and Skirmishers topple like dominos as bullets pierced their skulls. Against two Spartans and a Drell assassin, the battle was short and rather one-sided. Numerous Covenant infantry still stationed on the AA gun were forced to watch in horror as their comrades were mowed down like grass. Only the few Elites guarding the area were able to stem their growing fear. Of course against a Warthog with missiles on its back, not even an Elite of any rank was good enough. Thane's aim at the ranks of infantry on the AA gun's balconies and doorways either killed anybody that got to close to either or kept the remainder away.

Despite how much closer they got and the more Covies they killed however, the AA gun still wouldn't explode. Thane's skills with targeting were exceptional but no matter where he shot, the gun continued to fire. It wasn't until Carter came back up on the radio that the trio understood.

 _"New intel, Six. Looks like normal weapons won't det' those AA guns."_

 _"I would suggest neutralizing the internal fuel cells, Lieutenant."_ Auntie Dot finished.

"Six, me and Thane will stay here and keep an eye out. Just get in and chuck a grenade into the fuel cells." Six merely nodded again before driving up to the base of the AA gun where a number of entrances were placed. Those few Covie infantry were killed either by Kat or Six, the latter of which jumped out of the Warthog and pulled out his grenade launcher. He didn't even bother to enter the building. He simply cocked his gun and launched one of his grenades into the internal fuel cells through a small opening in the container before turning around. The sound of one small explosion followed by a second larger one and then a series of alarms flooded the area around the AA gun. As the gun began to overload, Six merely got into driver seat of the Warthog, turned it around and made a quick exit with the other two as the gun began to unleash a series of smaller explosions. A second later, a large blue fiery burst of plasma tore the AA gun apart, leaving a nothing more than ruins.

 _"Control, 2 Lima 4: permission to commence bombing run, heading 224.6, over."_ The radio asked Control as the Allied air forces were now able to begin flying freely through the skies, in an attempt to remove the Covenant forces on the ground.

 _"Copy. 2 Lima 4, bombing run, heading 224.6, permission granted - out."_ Control granted in response and it was quickly followed by the sight of three Longswords and two heavy frigates, the UNSC _Grafton_ and the UNSC _Saratoga_ , soon appearing overhead ready to deliver their deadly cargo onto the Covie forces below. A Covenant Phantom arrived to either attempt stopping the Allies or attempt to escape but was quickly annihilated by the frigates' guns for its attempt.

 _"Good work, Noble Six. UNSC air support: skies are clear."_ Carter radioed in as the frigates opened fire on the Covenant forces in the valley. The Longswords commenced their bombing run on the three Scarabs in the valley, destroying two of them instantaneously and disabling the third, which proceeded to detonate mere seconds later. Meanwhile the Warthog below took care of any remaining Covenant forces on the plateau, which at this point consisted of a few infantry trying to make a stand at a floating Covenant platform. That was destroyed seconds later by several missiles, crushing and / or blowing up any remainders of the guard. With the path clear, the Warthog once again began its trek down the road in relative silence.

"Six, take that south road and see if can you have a better view at the Spires." Kat mentioned as they drove down the dirt tracks of the ridge. It took about half a minute for the Warthog and its occupants to enter the small narrow gorge with the remnants of a broken bridge once crossing it where the dirt road continued up around the back of the hill. The Warthog moved forward heading up the slope but it wasn't until they reached the top that they encountered a Wraith tank and a group of Skirmishers guarding the area. Once again the Warthog was in small chase around the top of the hill against a slightly more superior foe comparable to the defense of Sword Base. Of course the odds went in favour of the trio when the Warthog proceeded to run the Skirmishers over while Thane shot the missiles he had at his disposal at the Wraith. The Wraith's gunner was the first to die considering there was no barrier or shield to protect him from the onslaught and another round of missiles ended the threat of the Wraith once and for all.

"Six, Pelican inbound with deployable bridge. Once the bridge is down, head over to the southwest side." Kat said as soon as the erupting fireball cooled down to reveal the sight of a Pelican under fire from a Phantom carrying something. Thane proceeded to fire missiles at the Phantom to either draw its attention or weaken its attacks, allowing the Pelican to drop off a deployable bridge, thus allowing the trio to continue onward.

"The bridge is in position, Lieutenant. We must move on to the other side." Thane noted as soon as the Pelican had flown off. They went across the bridge and continued down the valley road and despite its rather deplorable condition, they soon came across the sight of a mining facility located across a canyon without any further issues.

"Noble Six, there's a mining facility near your location. Covenant are using it as a command outpost. Troopers on site have already engaged." Carter radioed again as they neared the facility. The Spartans and assassin arrived at a bridge entrance on their side of the canyon. Several Army troopers were under fire from a combination of Covenant troops and a Shade turret. A series of concrete barricades kept the Warthog from moving forward while protecting both Covenant and troopers on either side of the bridge. But the appearance of the Warthog changed things of course. Thane fired the missiles at the Shade turret which promptly exploded, along with its occupant. With the turret down and two Spartans added to their forces, the Allied troopers moved forward. Thane's usage of the missile turret provided cover fire for the troopers as the enemy moved back in defense only to be downed by either bullets or missiles alike. What had once been a stout defensive position had now been blown away. The Spartans and troopers began their advance on the BXR Mining facility followed quickly by Thane who was forced to leave the Warthog behind.

 _"New intelligence: friendly forces near the Covenant outpost have sighted a high value target. An Elite Zealot, in fact."_ Auntie Dot stated as the team of Allied forces moved through the facility's hallways and stairwells. Small groups of Covenant forces were ambushed one by one as the Allies moved through the facility. Thane

"A Zealot?" Kat said as she snapped a Grunt's neck. "We're onto something big, Commander."

 _"Eyes on the prize, Noble. Take out that Zealot if you get the chance, but keep movin' towards the spires."_ Carter interrupted as the trio and their fellow troopers moved further into the facility, encountering increasing amounts of resistance as they went.

"I can take care of the Zealot if need be." Thane mentioned. "I have had encounters with Zealots before in both Human and Citadel space so I know how to take them down."

"Very well, but stay close. We have no visual on target but that doesn't mean that it might not see us." Kat stated. The Spartans and assassin simply moved further ahead of the troopers, across steel bridges and stairways. Eventually they came across a building on the other side with a hole in the roof leading inside. On top of the building were a number of Covenant troops and alongside them was the Zealot they had been looking for. The Spartans and Drell both leaped to the building from their positions on the walkways. As he flew through air towards his target, Six threw a grenade toward an Elite Minor and two Jackals near him on the far end of the roof away from the trio. The grenade sailed and struck the Elite square in the face before promptly bouncing off and then exploding taking both of the Jackal and destroying the Elite's shields. A few bullets from Six promptly took out the Minor. While Six then proceeded to mop up any remaining infantry while Kat took care of an Elite Ultra. Thane had used his biotics to essentially fly onto the roof, roll pass the Covenant defenders, and sprint towards the Zealot. The Zealot ignited his plasma sword while Thane ignited his omni-blade. The duel was, in a word, awe-inspiring. Every Elite has some form of melee training with plasma swords and Zealots were very advanced. But Drell assassins were some of the best trained melee fighters in Citadel space, with the exception of certain others. Also, Thane had biotics and that probably made all the difference. A number of biotic enhanced moves including flipping and summersaulting around and away from the Zealot's blade served to throw the Elite off-guard enough to the point where Thane biotically punched him in several weak points. The Elite's shields went offline but the Zealot remained unharmed and swung his sword in an attempt to decapitate the Drell. But Thane, using his biotics and parkour skills, as humans would call it, ran up the wall in an effort to dodge the plasma blade and jumped off at a certain height. His back was to the ground but in midair, Thane twisted his body and as he neared the ground behind the Zealot, he plunged his omni-blade down. The hard-light severed the Zealot's spinal cord and the Elite fell to the ground with the Drell on top of him.

With that, the last of the Covenant both outside and inside the facility were finished and the Spartans and oncoming troopers proceeded to take care of them.

"Mining facility secured and high value target has been neutralized. We're moving forward." Kat radioed before turning to the assassin. "Impressive, Thane."

"Thank you, lieutenant." The Drell replied before the three dropped down into the hole in the building. The trio slowly moved down the nearby stairs and followed the signs toward the exit. When they finally got outside on the other side of the facility, they found three Grunts and an two Elites along with three Ghosts, and a Revenant at the exit. Two Grunts attempted to escape in the Ghosts but were quickly eliminated by two headshots from Six. The Elites and last Grunt however, had chucked several grenades at the vehicles before the trio could do anything. The Ghosts went up in flames and the Elites and Grunt took cover behind the Revenant. Unlike most Covies they had come across, this one acted smarter than most and stayed behind cover while firing its twin plasma rifles at the trio, forcing them to hide behind the entrance. This continued for some time with neither side able to do anything until a sound started to ring through the canyon. The four warriors stopped fighting for a moment as the sound drew closer when suddenly, a green jeep-like vehicle with turrets on top of it, roared out of nowhere and proceeded to slam into the Elites and Grunt along with their Revenant, shoving all three against the canyon wall. The Revenant was wrecked and when the jeep pulled back and the trio emerged, it was obvious that the Covies had died.

"Well at least the enemy is neutralized and unable to flee the area." Thane mentioned as the three turned toward their savior. One of the doors opened to reveal a human with dark skin, short hair, bright blue eyes, and a large and muscular build almost similar to a Spartan. The driver's voice shocked them all into alert.

"You three going to get in or what?" The man said. His voice sounded gritty, like it belonged to some country worker recently coming to the city.

"What are you doing here soldier?" Six asked as the three swiveled their guns around the area as a precaution.

"Classified, and don't worry about any Covies. None left in the area" The other doors swung open as if they were inviting the trio in. "I'm here to get you to your targets as quickly as possible. So jump in unless you prefer to walk." The trio merely looked at each other before hopping in. Six took the left passenger seat, Kat passenger right, and Thane took shotgun while the man sat back down in the driver's seat. As soon as they were in, the doors closed and the weaponized jeep sped off down the trail toward the next AA gun.

"Who are you?" Kat asks as they continued down the broken trail.

"Name's Lieutenant Buckley but most people call me Bulkhead." The driver stated with a grin on his face. Six didn't know why but something about the driver just nagged at his senses a little. As if he wasn't actually there or something.

"Interesting." Thane said, "Again, what are you doing here?"

"Let's just say I had a job to do and keeping tabs on the Spartans involved in this mission is part of it." Bulkhead answered. They passed by a small patrol of Covies which the vehicle's cannons promptly got rid of, allowing them to continue forward.

"Under whose authority?" Kat pressed on as soon as she heard Bulkhead's reasoning.

"Sector Seven."

"There is no Sector Seven." Six stated. There was no known branch of ONI labeled as such.

"Exactly." Bulkhead replied.

"What do you mean?" Kat's eyes narrowed.

"What I mean, is that my very existence and everything I ever done up till now has been classified under some of the highest levels. Those who've heard of us can't find much and those who haven't, we prefer to keep it that way."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Thane pointed out. "You could be a trick or a Covenant supporter." The vehicle instantly slammed its brakes, forcing the three occupants slightly forward and snapping the spine of a Skirmisher that didn't jump away in time before it was hit.

"Never assume that I work with murderers." Bulkhead's voice came out calm, collected, and undoubtedly angry. "My boss ordered me to fight alongside you and even if he didn't, I would still fight to protect the innocent involved in this war just like my teammates have done and I will continue to do so. So don't you ever insinuate that I work for such despicable creatures again." Six swore that he thought he saw Bulkhead's eyes glowing. The jeep started up once again and went down the path, but not before blasting an Elite out of its hiding place with the cannons on top. The trio had fallen silent in response.

"I apologize for my words." Thane said sincerely not long after. Bulkhead didn't bother to respond as they continued down the canyon path in semi-awkward silence. It wasn't until they had exited the canyon and jumped from the broken road down to the valley floor that the radio turned on to a familiar voice.

 _"Update, Noble: scans show another Covenant AA gun ahead of your location. I want you to neutralize that gun, by any means necessary."_ Carter ordered before the radio turned off once more. With their target in sight, the group moved forward with a single purpose. The area surrounding the second AA cannon contained a far larger amount of Covenant forces than the first AA cannon had. The enemy forces on the valley floor included at least two Wraiths, a swarm of Drones, as well as the usual complement of Grunts, Jackals, and Skirmishers. A Falcon was flying nearby to assist in clearing the area. The trio that had been at the first cannon would make sure that this Falcon wouldn't suffer the same fate as the first did. With the jeep's cannons on top plus its bumper, the combination of two Spartans firing their guns on full auto, and Thane's rather exceptional sniping skills, the valley below the AA gun was filled with the dead bodies of Covenant soldiers. The Wraiths would have been difficult if the trio had been using either their Warthog or a combo of the Revenant and Ghost from the mining facility. Bulkhead's cannons tore them apart like paper. The shots were obviously plasma and fired at a speed equal to that of a Scorpion or Arclite tank shell, so in short, the Wraith's never stood a chance. But the battle When the Wraiths went down, a nearby explosion of green filled their eyesight.

As everybody's eyes cleared, they were met with the sight of a Hunter pair standing on the road leading up to the hilltop and consequently, the AA cannon. The cannons strapped to their arms also happened to be glowing an ever brightening green.

"Hang on!" Bulkhead yelled. The seatbelts instantly came alive, tying the trio down while the gas pedal slammed to the floor. The jeep sprung forward and the cannons began to fire. The vehicle's plasma weaponry fired at the same time as the Hunter's cannons did. The two differently colored blasts of plasma energy flew through the air and smashed into each other, creating a violent and spectacular blue-green light show in between the two opponents. Three more pairs of shots followed in quick succession as the distance between the two foes shortened by the second. Three more colorful explosions occurred before the vehicular form of Bulkhead pushed through the smoke and rammed the pair of Hunters. The Hunters apparently had an idea of what was going to happen and attempted to lift their shields in defense. It didn't matter whatsoever.

Bulkhead crashed into the pair of Hunters, driving them into the rock wall behind them and leaving a big indentation. Bulkhead then proceeded to aim the turrets of the gun on top onto the Hunters and began to fire at them. A billowing cloud of dust and smoke filled the air and it was only after half a minute of constant firing that the guns stopped and Bulkhead began to back up. When the cloud cleared, it revealed the sight of the two dead Hunters, pulverized and melted in several places where they were struck with an outline of their figures dug into the wall behind them. The threat had been eliminated and with no other Covies in the area, Bulkhead turned toward the AA gun and fired his cannons through the door. Normal Human, Citadel, or Covenant weapons would not have easily penetrated the core but the shots from Bulkhead's plasma cannons tore right through barrier and shields alike. The core destabilized and the group merely drove away as another series of explosions rocked the place before the AA gun went up in flames. A Phantom had arrived nearby to drop off reinforcements in response, but Bulkhead's guns quickly put an end to both issues, leaving the valley free of Covenant forces.

"Well, looks like you have company arriving. Better get out." Bulkhead mentioned as the trio slowly stepped out to see the arrival of a Pelican coming in to drop off troopers and a Falcon flying in behind it.

"Will we be seeing you again?" Kat asked in genuine curiosity. Anything highly classified always grabbed her attention.

"Don't worry about me. I've fought in bigger battles than these. Besides you three can easily take care of yourselves and in case you need help, I'll be watching from nearby." Bulkhead answered as the doors to the vehicle shut automatically. "Oh, one more thing. Can you guys try not to mention my existence here to anyone else? Classified info and whatnot."

"Of course." Thane mentioned. With that taken care of, Bulkhead sped toward a small dirt trail that nobody noticed at first. He disappeared around the corner in a cloud of dust not long after. At around the same time, the Pelican and Falcon had both arrived, dropping off the troops to defend the area and pick up the trio.

 _"Well done, Six. ONI needs up-close recon on those spires, we're gonna fly you the rest of the way."_ Carter finally radioed in response to the AA gun's destruction.

"Jorge has a Falcon inbound to your position, Lieutenant. Highlighting the LZ now." Kat mentioned before opening the radio again. "Commander, I'm going to set up a forward observation post here."

 _"Copy that, I'm waiting on new intel. See what you can see, Carter out."_ The radio shut off just as the Falcon arrived.

"Need a lift, Spartan?" The voice of a familiar friend echoed as the Falcon touched down. Hanging on the other side of the Falcon was the big, burly body of Jorge, armored and ready to take the fight to the Covenant. He was sitting on the right side of the Falcon, right behind the cockpit next to a marine who happened to be sitting next to him. His machine gun lay across his lap, the barrel pointing outward. It looked a little too small and uncomfortable for him, like he was going to fall out at any moment. Six smirked a little at the sight.

"Definitely." He mentioned before hopping onto one of the Falcon's M460 Automatic Grenade Launchers which were on the sides of the vehicle. Thane followed aboard and placed himself on the other side of the Falcon. With everybody in, the Falcon rose into the air and flew in the direction of the canyon lake nearby.

"Spotted some nasty business in the canyon on the way down." Jorge said as the Falcon turned toward the canyon leading out of the valley.

 _"I'll call out targets as we go."_ The Falcon's pilot radioed from up front as they began to fly along the river. The ride was smooth at first but eventually, the Falcon had reached a bridge crawling with Covenant forces that were attempting to cross it.

"Top of the canyon, dead ahead." Thane called out. Six and Thane alike both began firing the grenades loaded into their guns at the Covenant forces below who attempted to fire back without any success. The Covenant forces were eliminated one by one until the bridge was cleared. After that, the Falcon continued onwards. More Covenant forces appeared along the road toward their final destination. The farther they went down the canyon, the more resistance they encountered on both sides. Thane had a better shot at getting rid of the Covies on his side but Six had a little trouble due to the high numbers. Until a familiar green, bulky vehicle with cannons on top, came down the canyon trail and shot several gun emplacements and the Wraith blocking the path. The combo fire from Bulkhead and Six wrecked parts of the silos the Covenant had placed themselves at but it didn't matter to them in the long run. The enemy had hoped to use the buildings as defenses when they were fleeing to safety and it turned out to be death traps for them. Bulkhead had already driven past all of them and ahead toward the destination.

 _"Spartan, should we do anything about that vehicle?"_ The pilot asked as Bulkhead's vehicle disappeared around a corner.

"He's with us pilot." Six answered.

"Stay sharp, Six. We're not out of the canyon yet." Jorge mentioned as the Falcon approached the spire. The area around it was surrounded with an enormous, visible energy shield.

 _"There's the spire."_ The pilot stated.

 _"Solid copy. Dot?"_ Carter asked. He was probably close by or watching through a video being transmitted from Six's helmet.

Auntie Dot's response was quick as usual. _"Latest intel suggests these spires may be projecting electromagnetic cloaking shields."_ The Falcon had arrived at the edge of the shield as she finished. The pilot was hesitating, hovering just outside it as a precaution.

"Priority One, pilot. Gotta know what's in there." Jorge radioed to the pilot.

 _"Affirmative, sir... Here we go."_ The pilot stated as he began to move the Falcon forward.

" _Wait! STOP!"_ Another voice on the radio called out and for a second Six recognized the voice of Bulkhead. But it was too late for the moment the Falcon touched the shield, everything flashed white and became filled with static. The sound of the Falcon's engines breaking down filled his ears followed by the sounds of it scratching against the rock wall. The grenade launcher that he had been holding had retracted from his hands, and Six had to hold onto the side of the Falcon. Six looked at Jorge, who was also holding on to the side of the Falcon.

 _"We just lost all power. We're going down!"_ The pilot radioed rather loudly.

"Lock your armor, Spartan!" Jorge called out. Six obeyed and mentally commanded his suit to lock down. A second later, Six lost sight of the rest of his companions as the earth and sky spun around him at a dizzyingly rate before the ground fully came into view.

"Brace for a hard landing!" The pilot called out one last time. It didn't really need to be said as anybody who survived could later testify on how hard the actual landing was. The Falcon crashed and Six was thrown a short distance from the Falcon, his entire world spinning faster than it had at first when the Falcon had still been in the air. He rolled along the ground for a short distance but when it was finally over, Six laid on the ground for a few seconds before hesitantly standing up on his knees and turning toward the location where he believed the wreck was. Jorge had emerged from the Falcon, tossing out equipment, some of it broken and useless at the moment. He simply grabbed an assault rifle on the ground nearby and pushed himself up to full height. After looking around briefly, Jorge picked up his gun.

"Crew's dead. We shouldn't stay here." Jorge said.

"Wait. Where's Thane?" Six asked. Both instantly turned around and began looking for the Drell assassin.

"I'm showing hostiles all over the place, we gotta move quickly." Jorge called out. Six could understand. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Skirmishers and Grunts moving downhill towards the crash site.

" _Noble, I found Thane."_ Bulkhead's voice came over their radios.

"Who is this?" Jorge instantly answered.

" _Lieutenant Buckley or Bulkhead. I helped your friends earlier. You can ask Six if you want but right now I found Thane. You guys better come quick. We're across the river."_ Came the short, clipped answers.

"Roger that." Jorge said before turning off the radio and turning to Six. "He telling the truth?" Six nodded in response. "Alright then. Commander, we got eyes on the spire. Looks like a staging area. We also got possibly reinforcements within the shield already. Their currently with Thane but it will take a while to get to them."

 _"Copy, we have your visual. Dot's working the problem, stand by."_ Carter radioed.

Jorge and Six prepared to move across the creek as the Covenant forces, composed of only Grunts, Jackals and Skirmishers approached. The firefight quickly broke out as Jorge began mowing down the Grunts and Jackals below while Six took care of the Skirmishers on the rocks above. A few Covies made across the creek but were quickly killed off. In less than a minute, the Covenant force had been wiped out and the two Spartans moved forward toward a small cliff overlooking the base of the Spire as the Spire itself came into full view. It was big, bigger than the AA guns and it was placed in a basin surrounded by a rings of upturned boulders, almost like a mini-meteor had struck the area long ago. Nearby, behind some of these boulders, was the figures of Bulkhead and Thane who appeared to have problems breathing. The two Spartans rushed over to help as soon as they saw the two.

"Is he alright?" Six asked.

"A few broken bones and a little exhausted from using his biotics to escape the crash and fight off some Covies. He just needs some medigel." Bulkhead said. Six came forward to deliver a dosage and was rewarded with the Drell breathing becoming more steady.

"Thank you, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to help in the attack on the Spire itself." Thane said.

"You don't have to. Have either of you been able to gain any info on what we're facing?" Jorge asked. Bulkhead slowly helped Thane up before turning toward the Spartans.

"From what I saw, there is a large number of Covenant forces scattered across the ridge, in the basin, or on the balconies of the lower spire as well as inside and under the spire itself. But there these terminals on the bottom of the Spire that are teleporters of a sort.

"Teleporters? Linked to what?" Jorge asked skeptically.

"The upper part of the Spire. It is likely that is where the controls for the Spire itself are placed. The teleporters appear to operate using anti-gravity lifts. If you get on them, they can carry you to the top where you can disable the shield." Thane mentioned.

"The problem is that, the defenses are far too strong for us to engage like this. We need a way to fly up to the top." Jorge said while taking a glance at the basin where the entrance to the spire lay.

"The Covies have some banshees ready to go on the other side of the ridge. If we can draw them close, we can stun one into crashing and one of you two can hitch a ride. Then the other three can distract the lower defenders while the fourth can get to the top without issue." Bulkhead pointed out before grabbing a plasma pistol off the ground and tossing it to Six. The Spartan checked the ammo and was pleased to see there was enough for a dozen or so shots.

"Sounds like a plan. Six, we'll hold these bastards off down here. You find a way to the top of the spire using a banshee." Jorge mentioned. The main three proceeded to begin attracting attention. Bulkhead got back in his vehicle before driving off to distract the defenders while Jorge and Thane began to mow down and snipe every Covie they came across. Naturally, the Covenant threw themselves into the defense as they attempted to fire back. But it was rather difficult as the two groups proceeded to force the defenders to ignore one threat in favor of the other which often resulted in more of them dying to the second group. In response, a pair of banshees were launched from where they had been placed and began to strafe the attacking Allies. Bulkhead's cannon put an end to one almost immediately while the second decided to go after the ones on foot. Six pointed his gun at the incoming banshee and began to charge his pistol. The banshee's own plasma guns began to fire in response. A rain of plasma hit in a row on either side of Six but he didn't flinch or dodge. He calmly waited another second before firing. The bolt of overcharged green plasma flew into straight into the banshee and a shower of electricity spread across the vehicle's body. With its power gone, the banshee sailed over Six's head and smacked itself into a boulder behind him. Taking the chance, Six bolted from his position and opened the canopy. The Elite that had been driving it had been shocked when the canopy opened to reveal a demon. Then Six kicked the Elite in the face, breaking his neck and knocking him out of the banshee at the same time. With the pilot now dead, Six took the controls and a second later, the Banshee reactivated and flew toward the spire.

 _"Noble Leader, Six is on his way up."_ Jorge radioed from his position on the ground below.

 _"Get in there. Take out that shield, Lieutenant. I'm en route with a Falcon. We'll pick you up as soon as you knock out power to that shield."_ Carter radioed back as Six neared the see through landing platform.

 _"Ready when you are, Six."_ Jorge stated before all contact was cut off. The banshee smoothly landed on the plasma landing and Six proceeded to enter through one of the side doors. Ahead of him was a console and surrounding it, were a number of Covenant forces. Noble Six proceeded to engage the Covenant at the top of the spire by shooting all the nearby Grunts. A Sangheili Ultra, who had been manning the controls of the spire, drew his Energy Sword as soon as the Grunts began to fall around him and charged the Spartan. Six ducked a swing that would have taken off his head but instead destroyed his gun, and flipped him over his back and onto the platform. He then ripped his pistol out of its holster before nailing the remaining Grunts in the head when they tried to intervene. But as soon as the last Grunt fell, his senses went haywire and he ducked again as the Elite swung once more.

 _"Lieutenant, We got a frigate inbound! Drop the shield and get out of there!"_ Carter's voice rang through his helmet. Realizing he was now on a very short clock, Six twisted his body around as he dropped, using his legs to lash out at the Elite. The Ultra stumbled back in surprise at the hit and Six used the distraction to wail on him. Punch after punch hit the Elite, disorienting him and keeping him from using his sword. But the Elite didn't give up and tried to swing again, only for Six to catch the Ultra's arm and break it over his shoulder. The Elite roared in pain as his right arm now hung uselessly at this side. He tried to do something but Six wasn't going to let this continue. Twisting on the ball of his left foot, Six kicked out at the Elite with enough force to throw him over the edge of the landing and to his death far below. Six took a moment to catch his breath before running back in to the controls. The console glowed and a large red button drew his attention as he approached. Assuming that it was the button that lowered the shield, Six drew close and pressed it. The hardlight button depressed before disappearing altogether and not a second later, the shield surrounding the spire went down. With the shield dissipating now Six began to sprinted for the outer edge of the top floor where, to his surprise, Thane and Jorge were waiting in a hovering Falcon alongside Carter. Without slowing down, Noble Six ran toward the edge before jumping off the spire. The distance was great and for a moment everybody feared that it might have been too far a jump. But a blue glow surrounded Six and despite lasting for only a second, it gave enough weightlessness for Six to move forward further then he would have and get his hand caught by Jorge, who pulled Six up into the Falcon.

"Get us outta here!" Carter yelled to the pilot who acquiesced as the Falcon began to pull away from the spire. "Control? This is Noble One. Spire One is green, and you're free to engage. Have a nice day."

 _"Copy that, Noble One. Be advised, all ground units: Frigate Three-One-Eight heavy is inbound, and MAC rounds have been authorized."_ Control acknowledged as Noble Team's Falcon continued to fly away from the Spire, joining a larger group of Falcons who were also leaving the area.

"MAC rounds? In atmosphere?" Jorge asked incredulously.

"One way to get their attention! Hang on to your teeth, people!" Carter responded as the UNSC _Grafton_ moved in a shallow dive towards the spire with the Falcon carrying Six, Carter, Jorge, and Thane away. The four braced themselves for the coming explosion. Now MAC cannons were not usually used in atmosphere because they often caused issues for any forced the happened to be nearby ranging from simple technical issues that were easily corrected to severe medical problems resulting from the large amounts of compressed air and sound waves hitting their bodies. But the Allies had fled the area and Six was happy to see the sturdy, green vehicle that was Bulkhead's ride speed up in an attempt to put as much distance as possible between it and the spire. Meanwhile, the _Grafton_ continued to move towards the spire, and, with a bright flash, fired its MAC cannon, hitting the Spire and shattering it into a million pieces that rained down on the basin below, crushing any Covenant remnants that survived. Jorge, satisfied, turned his back to nod at Carter and Six, failing to notice a purple glow that began to illuminate the sky above the _Grafton_. Moments later, an energy projector beam more powerful than the MAC cannon streaked down from the sky and hit the _Grafton's_ bow section, instantly gutting the ship from top to bottom. Secondary explosions blossomed along the hull as the _Grafton_ began to plummet towards the ground.

 _"New contact. High-tonnage."_ Auntie Dot supplied while the Spartans and Drell watched in horror as the aft section of the _Grafton_ exploded in a ball of flame while the forward section crashed to the ground.

"No. No! Somebody tell me this ain't happening!" Jorge's shocked voice grew louder as he, Six, Carter, and Thane were forced to watch the _Grafton_ crash into the canyon alongside the ruins of the spire it had destroyed mere seconds before.

 _"UNSC Frigate Grafton, do you copy?"_ Air Control radioed as panic probably begin to sweep through them.

" _Grafton_ is dust!" Carter instantly radioed. "We need to get out of here, now!" The Falcon fled the scene. As the shattered UNSC _Grafton_ fell to the ground, a Covenant supercarrier was revealed to be holding position over the remnants of the destroyed Spire. Six could only stare in shock and sadness as he watched the _Grafton_ hit the ground, more explosions littering its hull. Today was supposed to be a victory. An attempt to drive the Covenant off Reach. Instead, things had only become more difficult.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **12** **00 Hours, August 2, 2552 (Military Calendar) / CASTLE Base, Viery Territory, Reach, Epsilon Eridani System**

The recordings of the Battle of Szurdok Ridge had been both helpful and draining. Dr. Mordin Solus watched with slight with slight amount of trepidation and awe as the _Grafton_ both destroyed the spire and was destroyed in turn. He had been right about the chances of the Covenant flagship being a CSO-class supercarrier, though he personally wished that the confirmation of its existence didn't come at such a cost. It's appearance meant that stealth had no longer been a necessity for the Covenant forces and the supercarrier had proceeded to drop off its occupants at a far more rapid pace than it had earlier. A potential Allied victory had turned into a stunning defeat as the Allies were forced to retreat. Szurdok Ridge was now firmly in the hands of the Covenant and the landing zone was even more heavily defended than before. As the human saying went, 'Everything had gone to hell.'

"Dr. Solus." A voice shook him out of his forlorn thoughts and brought him back to the present. Looking up he saw the source of the voice, his friend and coworker, Dr. Halsey. Alongside her was Lord Hood as well as Admirals Cole and Arterius.

"You were right." Dr. Halsey stated. "Your predictions have panned out and we actually have a chance now."

"I know. Just wish that it didn't have to happen like this." Mordin muttered before straightening himself. "Allied forces have been driven back from the Szurdok Ridge and Covenant now threaten the whole of the Viery Territory. Recommendation that Operation: Red Flag begin immediately."

"Our navies have been ahead of schedule and we will be there within 18 hours." Admiral Cole said. "Our arrival could help in providing support on the ground and air against other Covenant forces while the Spartans disable the supercarrier if you wait."

Lord Hood looked at both sides before moving his hand to his chin in thought. After a few seconds he spoke, "Begin Red Flag immediately. Admirals, try and get there as soon as possible and begin operations against Covenant forces across the planet when you arrive. If we're lucky, then we might be able to push the Covenant off Reach before reinforcements arrive." Everybody nodded.

"Before you leave sir," Halsey began. "I wish to learn what is Sector Seven. We know it is not a normal government sanctioned group and whoever they are, they have been hiding things from the rest of the military. The technology related to this vehicle Noble Team saw earlier is advanced and could prove useful."

"Agreed. I'll do what I can but it might take time. Until then, everybody get ready for the operation. Godspeed." The QEDs turned off once again leaving Halsey and Mordin alone. Halsey prepared to leave the room but when she turned around, she saw Mordin was still staring at the screen which had the face of Lieutenant Buckley and his vehicle on.

"Something wrong Dr. Solus?" Halsey asked. Mordin looked at her.

"Driver is not real." Mordin stated immediately. "Have been going through every picture and video. Used everything to analyze him and see what we could learn of this Sector Seven and realized that when trying to use heat seeking…" Mordin clicked a button and the figure of the Lieutenant vanished in a cloud of pixels. "He disappears. Lieutenant Buckley is nothing more than an advanced hologram meant to fool on sight."

"But, if that is true, then who was actually driving the vehicle? Where were they?" Halsey asked. Neither didn't know what to say as they stared at the video of the holographic man.

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 **12** **00 Hours, August 2, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Compartments of Comfort, Holy City of High Charity, Unknown Location**

"You invited Atriox into the Holy City and now you want me to join with you both to help form a coup against the Hierarchs themselves!" the voice of the former High Prophet of Tolerance reached a near screech that made even Zo want to cover his ears and search outside to see if anybody heard, despite knowing that the room was soundproof and clear of bugs. As annoying as he could be at the rarest of moments, Tolerance had always been the best of the former three Hierarchs that ruled before Truth, Regret, and Mercy came to power. He had a streak of honesty, a healthy dose of practicality, and was also one of Zo's best friends amongst the San 'Shyuum. When Zo had a problem in the past he always had turned to Tolerance for help and guidance as he had now, so despite the loud remark he made Tolerance still he had a point. Atriox was considered a rebel by the government and the fact that Zo had blatantly invited him into High Charity was the equivalent of treason. The Jiralhanae had been exiled from the holy city for a reason and while members of the High Council knew there might be spies and recruiters here in the city, they had usually been rather lax in certain areas. Zo's influence had allowed the Brute to enter the city without being detected.

"What was I supposed to do Tolerance? Who was I to turn to and confide in about my deepest fears, save you. Everywhere I turn and look, I see people that worked with me or claimed to be me friends sendoff reports to their superiors in the hopes of gaining leverage on me or my work. I had to turn to someone outside their control because at this point the Hierarchs are becoming more power hungry and ruthless, Truth especially, and too many are in their pockets. They don't care about saving the people's souls or attempting to make peace. They're just widening the war beyond the humans while alienating the people they are supposed to serve. " Zo pointed out.

"So you turned to an exiled rebel who was declared an enemy of the state. The fact that you are communicating with a known terrorist will end in political suicide for the you, and that is if you aren't condemned to death. Why do you do this when you know the reason why this war was started in the first place? The humans desecrated our lord's relics, as decreed by the Oracle and as such, we were charged to do what was necessary. The history of the Covenant has shown that we have committed similar acts against other species for similar reasons since the Writ of Union."

"Conversion through destruction and death! I know why we did all this and I accepted that at first but…things are changing. The war has lasted for far too long now and instead of uniting us and bring us closer, its dividing us. The Sangheili are getting restless at killing what they consider to be honorable foes. Atriox and his rebels are threatening us from within by striking at us from the shadows. Meanwhile the Hierarchs drain our manpower and resources in this war against other alien races that could be a boon to the Covenant and, I cannot stress this enough, have not desecrated the relics of the Forerunners. Instead, the humans still stand strong after all this time and we have more enemies than we have had in ages standing against us. How much more can the Covenant handle before the damage becomes irreversible? How many more must be sacrificed when a slim chance remains to stop this madness?! Would you see our people die because of this folly Tolerance?!" Zo spoke with as much passion as he could deliver and he could see his friend's eyes fill with fire.

"I would see those I care for live Clarity, and have a life beyond the pettiness of politics or the bloodshed of war, anything they could strive for or look up too that doesn't require them to sacrifice everything in the process. I understand why you are doing this but I don't want to see you lose yourself and I certainly don't want to help you destroy yourself in the process." Tolerance stated with care as he put his hand on Zo's shoulder. Zo shrugged it off in response before looking at him with sad eyes.

"Then I don't know you at all." He turned his head as if in shame. "I knew you were cautious since Truth's coup but I didn't know you would abandon your closest friend and your people just to save your own skin. If you wish to see the death of the Covenant and our race with it, be my guest. I will still do what I must to see this through. I must know why they have done this and I will neither stop or rest till I am successful or I am dead." Zo turned to leave but was stopped when he felt Tolerance's hand gripping his shoulder hard. He turned again to see the Prophet's shoulders drooping in sorrow.

"No you are right. I cannot leave you and I refuse to. But still, we are now treading dangerous waters. Can you trust a Jiralhanae like Atriox to help us in anyway. Can you make sure that the Hierarchs won't discover your treason. Can you be sure that those close to you will remain safe? Because if this venture fails, then you will not be the only one to suffer and the Hierarchs will not see you suffer lightly." Zo gave a sad smile, but his eyes were filled with hope and determination as well.

"I have to know the truth that our Hierarchs have been hiding from us cause mark my words. They will destroy the world itself to hold onto everything they've gained and I will not let their greed, pride, or fear drag us all to ruin." Zo stated with a resolve that he didn't know he had. Tolerance merely sighed in response.

"Hmph. The determination of youth. Very well, I'll help you in any endeavor I can. My political clout in the High Council may have lessened, but I'm still a former Hierarch with a voice, resources, and men at my disposal. I will do what I can to help you my friend." Tolerance took Zo's hand and shook it. "Where and when do we meet Atriox?"

"At a warehouse on the other side of the city near the Trial Court for Tools of Conquest. I believe you know of the area. It will be the one that contains the ring with ancient symbols and its corresponding device from our old homeworld. I have been studying it there for years now to try and decipher it but with no luck." Zo felt irked at that. This project that the Hierarchs had given him was one that both fascinated and infuriated him as he could gain no meaning of what the ring was. All he knew was that the device was made of a strange element that few Forerunner artifacts carried, had strange symbols that nobody could translate, and was from the time when the Forerunners ruled the galaxy. "We will be meeting there at midnight, two days from now."

"Ah yes, the ring of our ancestors. I know where it is and if it's alright, I will join you at your home before we leave for the meeting." Tolerance said.

"Very well. I will see you then." Zo shook the San 'Shyuum's hand and began to head toward the front door to go home. But Tolerance's voice stopped him before he stepped out.

"Just remember young Clarity. Not many others like me hold ideals like friendship or honor in such high regard. Choose your confidants carefully because the moment we make our move, the Hierarchs will take a greater notice in you if they haven't already." Tolerance warned.

Zo turned toward him and looked at him eye to eye. "Trust me, these past years since Asteria have been the reason why I have been keeping this to myself all this time. I needed to make sure to know who to trust and rely on. Its why I finally came to you now with what I knew. I will be careful and if we're lucky, we'll both come through this intact." Zo then stepped out the door and pulled up his cloak as he disappeared into the streets. All the while not noticing the dark, shadowy figure with glowing green eyes standing on the roof of a nearby building, stalking him.

" _Interesting. He might prove helpful yet."_ The alien thought before he disappeared in a cloud of darkness, preparing to follow Zo Reskan back to his abode and wait for further developments.

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 **MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!**

 ***Multiple fireworks of different color and design plus Christmas carols suddenly go off in the background while heroes from many universes proceed to dance and jump with joy. Wheeljack is opening a present and is delighted find a pair of lightsabers inside. Grunt and Wrex are both seen lying on the ground having tried to drink Atriox under the table. SG-1 is explaining the meaning of Christmas to a very confused Artanis and Zeratul. Jim and Kerrigan are being affectionate under the mistletoe and Clara is seen dragging the Eleventh Doctor to the dance floor who is currently trying to escape.***

 **Hello everybody. Sorry about having no December chapter up. The holidays can get pretty wild and fun if you know what to do and considering that its about 5 days between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, the entire time period can be considered one big holiday. Either way here's the chapter you all want. Don't get angry at me cause you won't like what happens.**

 ***An angry mob of readers and reviewers appears with torches and pitchforks only to be chased off by Krampus. Brutal murder sounds come from outside as nobody pays attention while the author shuts the door and windows.***

 **Told you. So you probably noticed three new additions. Thane got a role and I tried to do my best writing him. Considering it's a Spartan mission, I thought he could be of use. You get to see Transformers, yaaaaaahhhh, finally! No it wasn't a transformer at the end of the last chapter. It's the same character that's currently following Zo in this one. You probably know who it is by now. Spent much as much time as possible writing this and I hope it's good enough for you lot. Anyhow, onto the reviewers who didn't want to murder me. *More murder sounds come from outside.***

 **SpawnX66: Thanks for your review. I personally believe that despite the misunderstandings and poisonous influence of the Hierarchs, not the entire San 'Shyuum race deserves to die a horrifying at the hands of the Flood. Same with a few other races, within reason of course. Adding Garrus was one of the ways I thought the Allies could be shown working together more often on the battlefield.**

 **Umbra Venator: Well the next chapter is here. Thanks for your patience.**

 **Many faced Mage: I think many people like to headhunt in shooter games. Now as for the Geth and Quarians. It has been about 500 years or a little longer since the Quarians were kicked off Rannoch. They aren't flying through space (that will be explained much later) but they are barely better off than here than in canon. They don't exactly trust the UNSC's because of AIs of course and they still don't have the large population necessary to fight against the Covenant, no matter how many ships they have at this point. So they are just kind of on the sidelines, helping out in the Terminus and Traverse where they can. Geth are doing the same cause they don't want to get involved, simple as that. Don't worry you might, I stress, might see a familiar face or two if I can write them in.**

 **Guest: Nope. Not an Autobot.**

 **Major Simi: I do like to involve a little bit of politics when it seems fitting. Thanks.**

 **Guest Q: Thank you for your notes on BSG technology and Stargate stuff. I will definitely be adding the Sekhmet & Netjerians later on.**

 **Guest: Wow that is an excellent piece that I will definitely consider adding into the story. Thank you and good work.**

 **I am Lauren: Don't have a clue at the moment.**

 **Fer82: Well, I will change the details of many things, people will live, others will die, certain events that didn't happen may happen, so on and so forth. But overall, the general overarching history will remain much the same. At least, that is what I am attempting so far. Things will change more as time progresses of course but right now you will find familiar sights and what not and that's because, I have to start somewhere.**

 **Mr. Deacon: That is a good idea, didn't actually consider it when I was making the timeline but wow this might work well. Thanks I will look it over and see what I can do.**

 **Reichenfaust: Yeah, the fact that Noble Team's little stunt destroyed the supercarrier that could have been used by the Spartans for Red Flag irked me when I found out. So I'm changing the events a bit. Also, I think the Doctor, no matter what form, works as the perfect interventionist censor. He already works well on theater screens screwing with the audience's 3D glasses.**

 **Guest: Maybe he will, maybe he won't.**

 **Guest: Yeah it kind of is at this point. Of course I got my own things planned out for the Quarians so I'll run that by later.**

 **Right so I hope all of you enjoy your winter holidays and the new year no matter who you are, where you're from, or what culture you are a part of. I wish you all the best of luck.**

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 **R.I.P. Carrie Fisher.**

 **You are in a better world now.**

 **May your legacy be remembered by all.**


	9. Chapter 9: Long Night of Solace

Chapter 9: Long Night of Solace

" **We are all racing towards death. No matter how many great, intellectual conclusions we draw during our lives, we know they're all only man-made, like God. I begin to wonder where it all leads. What can you do, except do what you can do as best you know how." – John Hurt**

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 **2007 Hours,** **August 2, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Szurdok Ridge, Ütközet, Viery Territory, Reach, Epsilon Eridani System**

The light of the setting sun and the plasma barrages caused by nearby Covenant Scarab, all of which were filtering through the large dust clouds over the region, left the entire area bathed in a premature glow of twilight. The sound of the Scarab's main cannon was briefly heard in the distance as Noble Team regrouped in a cave not far from the site of the battlefield they were recently at earlier. Jorge was lugging in a large briefcase, though for a Spartan II it wasn't that heavy at all. Six closely followed behind him while Jun finished securing their six. Carter was sitting down at one side of the cave opening while Kat stood in front of him. Everybody was tired and more than a little annoyed at how the recent battle for Szurdok Ridge had gone. It didn't really help when Auntie Dot commed in to update their knowledge on the situation.

 _"Our foe is more devious than we imagined. That spire was indeed a teleporter linked to a cloaked, Covenant supercarrier... A grave threat."_

"Thank you Auntie Dot." Six grumbled with a slight sarcastic tone in his voice.

 _"Thankfully, help is imminent. Sixty percent of the UNSC fleet as well as the Turian Sixth Fleet are en route to Reach from existing deployments. The first battle group should arrive within twelve hours."_ Auntie Dot finished. Jorge merely tossed the briefcase at Emile's feet in response to the info. Jun was standing right next to Jorge at the time and looked up at what he heard.

"Twelve hours?" Jun said as he proceeded to remove his helmet. "That's imminent?"

"Better half a day than a full one." Emile said out loud. Jun brushed some embers and ash off of Jorge's damaged shoulder pauldron in frustration, which has been charred by a plasma hit. Carter and Kat merely brooded while Six slightly shrugged as if in acceptance. Frankly, twelve hours was better than twenty-four. Still, if there was one thing you learned during war, anything could happen during in a short amount of time. Six was already missing the Drell's calm demeanor and wise outlook which had been proven to be as beneficial as his skills. Thane had to be airlifted to the FOB to get his wounds checked after the fall of the Spire, leaving Noble Team behind on the battlefield.

"Uh-oh. Who's your money on this time?" Jun asked Jorge as they looked toward their commanding officers to see what would happen. Carter and Kat both looked like they were going to get into a confrontation at this point.

"Her." Jorge merely answered while never taking his eyes off the pair, even when he took off his helmet.

"You always pick her."

"She's always had him dialed in."

The two shared a few chuckles at that. Kat always knew which buttons she had to push with Carter. Some of the team liked to joke that the two had feelings for the other but if they truly did, they wouldn't act on them. Military regulations and whatnot.

Said two commanders were currently discussing the situation at the moment with both their helmets off. "That thing's crushing us, and we're waiting for backup? They'll be backing up a graveyard." Kat began with the sound of another cannon blast from the Scarab outside backing up her words.

"All our nukes are either out-system or went down with the ships that carried them. You're preaching to the converted." Carter replied in somber response.

"How converted?"

"I know that look, Kat."

"You can say no."

"No."

"You don't even want to hear it?"

Carter sighed in surrender before saying, "Fine. I'll hear it."

"Remember that accident a couple years back? Colony ship en route to Cygnus. Seven hundred dead?"

"Vaguely. A slipspace drive malfunction, right?"

"Actually, it worked fine. The drive was mounted improperly after a service haul-out. When it fired, it...teleported half the ship to oblivion."

"And this is relevant...how?"

"A certain Covenant supercarrier could, with some assistance, suffer the same unfortunate accident..."

"Even for you, Kat, that's-"

"Inspired?"

"Not the word I would use." Carter finished as Jorge and Emile walked up to them.

"What's going on?" Jorge asked.

"Go ahead. Explain." Carter stated calmly.

Kat reached for Emile's kukri, but he grabbed her hand to prevent her from taking it. Kat remained unfazed at the sight. It was well known amongst the Spartan IIIs that Emile didn't like people taking his stuff, especially his knife, without permission.

"May I?" Kat asked in response and Emile dropped his hand and allowed her to take it.

"Don't cut yourself." He said with slight humor. Kat rolled her eyes in response to Emile's little joke. She bent down to the ground and began using the kukri knife to draw her plan in the dirt of the cave while explaining her idea to Noble Team.

"Objective? Destroy Covenant Carrier in geosynchronous orbit above us." She explained as she finished the diagram.

"This sanctioned, sir?" Jorge questioned.

"What do you think?" Was Carter's immediate response.

"Oh."

Kat continued unconcerned by the side conversation. "Method? A slipspace drive in lieu of the nukes we don't have. Delivery system? Us. Solvable? Getting us up there. That, and getting our hands on a slip-space drive." She stood back up and handed Emile back his kukri. "Thank you for sharing." She finished.

"So... All we need is orbit-capable transport, and the single most expensive piece of equipment made by man?" Carter stated with a small amount of sarcasm. He wasn't exactly wrong to say so. Slipspace drives were the most expensive items humanity had ever built in its long history in terms of how many resources were used, how much money was spent, and how much time was put in to build and test the thing. The first ships to leave Earth in fact, didn't have any reliable type of FTL at their disposal and they wouldn't until 2291 which was when humanity began to leave the Sol System. It and the long distances involved during slipspace travel were one of the reasons why cryonics were still in use today. To get a slipspace drive for this plan would either take time they didn't have or require one of the UNSC ships to give up their own, not something any captain would do under normal circumstances.

"As a soldier in the field I couldn't possibly have access to those kinds of resources - that said, a good place to look might be... I don't know, the nearest nonexistent launch site in the nonexistent Sabre Program, dismissed by three administrations as preposterous rumor... And in which our newest member was certainly never a pilot." Kat said without a care as if she were mentioning the weather. All the Spartans turned to look at Noble Six, who displayed no visible reaction at Kat's knowledge of what was supposed to be a top secret classified project.

"You're scary, you know that?" Emile plainly stated to Kat.

"All we need is a green light from Holland." Kat ignored Emile's remark.

"Good luck with that." Carter stated with a small smile before Kat handed Carter a data pad with Holland's number already in and waiting to be called.

"You're the one asking him." Kat said with a smug smile as Carter reluctantly took the pad, and turned away.

"Oh, there's no way in hell he's gonna go for this..." Carter mumbled loudly enough while the rest of the team left him be. From outside, they could hear snippets of his conversation with the good Colonel. It continued on for a few minutes, a few times rather loudly as the two argued over details, but in the end it sounded like Carter had acquiesced to the Colonel's request and the conversation ended before Carter moved out to the cave mouth.

"What did he say?" Jun asked as soon as their commander appeared. They were all curious as the snippets of the conversation they did hear didn't seem to go their way.

"We aren't getting the bomb." Carter stated. Kat looked like she was going to argue when Carter held up his hand to silence any words she or the others might say. "Kat, he did state your plan was a good idea but they are currently enacting another operation which we will take part in. The slipspace bomb would only be used as a last resort if things didn't go well."

"What operation is Colonel Holland talking about?" Kat asked curiously, her indignation momentarily restrained.

Carter stared at her and the rest of his team with a slight smile tugging at his lips. "They began Operation: Red Flag the moment they confirmed that ship was in the skies above Reach. They want us to help capture it."

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 **12:48 Hours, August 3, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Sabre Program Launch/Research Range, Farkas Lake, Eposz,** **Viery Territory, Reach, Epsilon Eridani System**

The noonday sun shone down on Farkas Lake, attempting to dissipate what little fog existed around the glacial lake's surface. The rocky hills surrounding the lake was covered in fog, rocks, and tundra vegetation. It would have been the perfect sight to a nature lover hiking in the area. But there were two problems with trying to get to the location. One, the lake was located close to the northern edge of the Viery Territory which was close to the north pole of Reach. Thus the location was remote and the cold weather kept any possible tourists away from the area. It had been the perfect area to build a hidden base meant for secret projects and it was here that the Sabre Program Launch and Research Range was built with the utmost subtlety. Unfortunately, the Covenant's advanced technology meant that any black sites hidden from prying human and council alien eyes was not hidden from the Covenant, at least not for long. Even as the UH-144 Falcon carrying Carter, Kat, Jorge, and Noble Six headed toward a nearby beach, downrange from the facility, the glow of handheld plasma weaponry firing as well as the loud barks of human ballistic weapons guaranteed that the Covenant were already at the site. The Falcon hovered inches above the beach sand as the four members of Noble Team jumped off before it finally flew away.

"Bit of a hike to the launch facility..." Jorge trailed off as the group began moving nimbly and silently through the boulders lining the lakeshore.

"Any closer's too hot to land." Carter stated plainly before turning to the rest of the team and calling out. "Alright, move up the beach Noble!" With that, Noble Team began charging through a small rocky path before entering an open part of the beach. Two rocky outcrops blocked the way with only a small pass between them allowing access to the site. As they approached the rocks, the team could see Covenant dropships, pods, plasma, and Allied gunfire filling the air. These sights were only obscured for a second as the team moved through the pass but upon exiting, they could see the scope of the battle. A Spirit dropship was unloading several Covenant troops who were beginning their assault on the now visible launch station.

"Launch facility, dead ahead." Kat said.

"Hostile transport coming in!" Carter noted as they began eliminating the Covenant rearguard which was mainly composed of Grunts and Jackals. Several orbital insertion pods of Covenant design hit the sandy ground near Noble Team, disgorging their contents which happened to include numerous Elite forces led by an Ultra. Bullets soon flew through the air as Noble Team began their massacre of the enemy forces. The Grunts and Jackals were easy to rid of. The Elites were a different matter but considering their positions amongst the rocks and against a squad of Spartans, Noble Team was able to kill them off. The last of the Covenant to fall had been the Elite Ultra. Six, had been walking amongst the rocks when the whine of a plasma weapon filled his ears and he promptly rolled across the beach. Plasma flew through the air where his head had been seconds ago. Getting behind cover swiftly, Six ran toward the Elite Ultra's flanks and threw a plasma grenade the alien. The sticky blue explosive hit its target and the Ultra managed to give a roar of defiance before disappearing in a blue flash. With the Ultra gone, the last of the enemy rearguard was wiped out and Noble Team moved up the beach toward the looming launch site. As they did, a Seraph fighter flew toward the base when it was shot down by an anti-air turret. The Seraph's shields shined brightly but either the shot had damaged its engines or shoved off course and it crashed into the walls of the base.

"More hostiles in the rocks to the south." Jorge called out.

"Root 'em out." Was Carter's answer. Noble Team continued to engage the Covenant reinforcements as they neared the base. More pods dropped into the ground, only for their occupants to meet the withering gunfire of the Spartans. Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, and Elites fell and leading the charge toward the great metal doorway of the site, was Six. He had jumped climbed and jumped across the rocks of the shoreline, wounding the Covenant forces in the flank. He was the first one to get to the entrance and upon reaching the doorway, he had turned and began shooting every single Covie in sight while his teammates moved up the ramp, squeezing the enemy between them. Noble Team soon cleared the area around the doors of hostiles and approached the facility's entrance where they were greeted by Army Troopers in power armor.

"Everybody inside, more hostiles on the way. "I'll seal this entrance." A trooper called out as Noble Team neared the doors. The trooper then pressed a number of buttons and the doors began to close.

"Inside Noble, let's go!" Carter yelled. He and Kat were soon beside Six while Jorge lumbered behind. When he reached the doorway, he turned around and swung out his machine gun toward the beach. A small amount of Grunts and Jackals had escaped the initial carnage and tried to sneak in but Jorge's radar had warned him. The Covies never had a chance as Jorge mowed them down like chaff. When the Covenant forces had stopped moving, Jorge took a step back and watched as the doorway shrunk smaller in size before closing up altogether. The last thing anybody could see or hear was a Pelican dropping off additional troopers to combat Covenant forces outside the gate. With the gate closed now, Noble Team began moving into the base itself, with a number of troopers marching in alongside them who were either calling out orders or explaining things to the Spartans.

"Flight control's this way, they're expecting you." One of the troopers up ahead stated as they continued down a plasma scorched hallway

"Still can't believe Holland said yes to this..." Jorge grumbled. His voice still carried enough for everybody to hear it.

"Well, some plans are too good to say no." Kat mentioned.

"Let's get that Sabre airborne before he changes his mind." Was Carter's remark, essentially ending the conversation. It was timely too as the Spartans neared a hallway where a giant hole in the wall leading to the outside was located. Judging by the size, shape, and location, the hole was most likely caused by the downed Seraph that Noble Team saw crashing into the building earlier.

"Control's right through that door, Commander." The lead trooper following Noble mentioned as they entered the damaged hall.

"We got a Wraith on the lower platform!" Another trooper called out farther down said hallway before the hole he had been at filled with blue explosions and said trooper was thrown into the opposite wall, a smoking, sparking suit. His helmet had been broken, revealing the bruised, bleeding face of the man. Angered at the poor soldier's death, Six rushed forward, grabbed the trooper's rocket launcher and ran to the opening in the wall. The Wraith was placed on a platform located over the waters of the lake that made up a makeshift dock. The Wraith had been expertly placed but the location didn't provide it much room to maneuver and its driver must have assumed it dealt with the threat. Six proved it wrong and fire two rockets in quick succession at the enemy vehicle. The rockets struck head on, the first killing the gunner and damaging the vehicle, the second successfully striking something of importance and causing an overload in the plasma coils of the vehicle. The entire thing turned into a roaring blue-purple ball of heat and light before the flames and smoke cleared to reveal nothing but debris. After dealing with the Wraith, Noble Team continued down the aforementioned hallway for the control room. The trek was rather calm and peaceful from then on, despite the battle raging outside, with one exception. There only stop had been when an Army trooper had been thrown violently into a wall from a neighboring hallway as they had approached. A Sangheili Officer emerged seconds later only for Six to run up behind it and jam his knife into its neck, severing the spine and arteries with quick and ruthless efficiency. After that, they had continued with no further issues.

 _"Warning: launch facility has been breached. Covenant forces have entered the base."_ The base's PA announced as one explosion rocked the facility somewhere far off. Noble Team couldn't do anything about it as they had a mission of their own to complete. Besides, they had reached the control room of the facility and were met with a gruesome sight. The control room was filled with the bodies of dead troopers, both in power suits and without. The attack was probably unexpected which explained the number of unarmored soldiers compared to those who were wearing power armor. A hologram of a Covenant SDV-class heavy corvette hovered above a holo-table located in the center of the room. It was the only major source of light in the room as the windows had been closed by an outside bulkhead. The team moved around the bodies and holo-table to reach the far side of the room in an attempt to find a button or lever when the bulkhead began to open to reveal the launch area which contained within it, a fully intact and functional white-colored Sabre. It was a marvel of engineering in its own right. The YSS-1000 Prototype Anti-Ship Spaceplane, commonly called the Sabre since its inception, was the latest in its kind which could be launched vertically from a ground-based launch platforms using a system detachable rockets to propel itself out of a planet's atmosphere and into low orbit without the use of a mass driver, nuclear technology, or other traditional means of surface-to-orbit transit. It had two shielding systems including a mass barrier and a plasma shield as well as two 30 mm cannons and a missile delivery system. Though it was only a prototype for now, the scientists who created it believed that it would be the craft of its type before a propulsion system could be built that would still allow the Sabre or similar fighters to reach low orbit without the use of rockets. So even though it wasn't complete, for this mission, the Sabre was perfect. But while everybody was ogling over it for a variety of reasons, the building shook as a pair of Seraphs flew overhead.

With the spell broken, Carter called out, "Jorge, Six: get to the Sabre before the Covenant wreck it."

"What about you and Kat?" Jorge questioned.

"Jun's on his way with a Falcon, we'll exfil after you launch. Move!" Carter ordered before he and Kat disappeared back down the way they originally came.

"You heard him, Six, let's go." Jorge said after a few moments. Six merely nodded in response and the two headed off to the Sabre, passing by an Army Trooper who was busy kicking a Sangheili Ultra's corpse over the edge of the walkway. The Spartans approached the ramps leading to the Sabre's cockpit. Two Army troopers in power armor were stationed near the ramps, and one of them saluted Six as the two Spartans had approached.

"Launch teams, Sabre is prepped and ready for launch." The trooper said while the two approached the Sabre itself. Jorge-052 said, "You first, Six. I'm just a passenger on this leg." Noble Six nodded in understanding as he climbed into the Sabre's cockpit. He was the more experienced of the two considering his classified experience piloting these crafts. Frankly, though nobody could see it, Six was kind of happy to be back in one of these things. It had been a while since he had been behind the wheel of a Sabre. Still, there was no time to dawdle so with fluid motion, Six and then Jorge, both climbed into the cockpit of the Sabre. The cockpit cover closed over their heads and the ramp they had walked up on pulled away.

 _"Struts disengaged. Commencing launch in T-minus 5, 4, 3, 2..."_ The Sabre's computer began as soon as everything checked out quickly followed by the engines igniting. The fighter began to shake at first, quite violently in fact, before the fighter began to lift off from the ground. Across the facility, other Sabres began to follow Six's Sabre as well, blasting off into the sky. Despite the carnage occurring outside, if any human who knew what was going on at the moment, looked at the multiple aircraft rising from the surface of Reach, they would have smiled because to them, it meant there was still hope. As Six and Jorge watched, the facility and then the area around it, disappeared behind a dense cover of clouds as the Sabre sped into the sky. The entire cockpit shook as the gravity of the planet and the friction of the atmosphere attempted to assert themselves on the Sabre with no luck.

 _"First stage engine burn nominal."_ The computer chimed in a friendly voice as the sky ahead grew ever darker. The Sabre was finally leaving the upper atmosphere and entering low orbit. _"Stage separation in 3, 2, 1... Stage separation."_ The computer once again voiced out and the two Spartans felt as the numerous booster rockets and fuel pods attached to the Sabre began to pop off stage by stage. Eventually a large enough bump signaled the detachment of all the rocket boosters and the Sabre once they were far enough away, the Sabre ignited its afterburners and flew off toward the space platform of Anchor 9.

 _"Second stage ignition confirmed."_ The computer chimed once again. Six and Jorge ignored it for the most part, instead focusing on the sight of Reach below/above them.

' _Right.'_ Six thought looking at the swirling clouds of the planet that felt so much like a home to him. _'There are no actual directions when in space.'_ Still, after some slight maneuvering, he couldn't help but feel like he was looking down on the world. In a single word, it could be described as beautiful. The greens, browns, blacks, and greys of the various landmasses mixed with the bright blues of the oceans and the white of the clouds formed a rather idyllic picture. The swirling clouds of a hurricane were visible and on the horizon of the planet, where the atmosphere began to give way to empty space, one could see the glow of an aurora dancing across the night side. The only thing that actually marred the picture was the sight of multiple, large columns of smoke, each starting from a bright pinprick somewhere on the ground below them. Before they had left for their mission, Noble had gathered info on Covenant movements and attacks after the Battle of Szurdok Ridge. What they had read on the ride to the launch site was discouraging. What Six and Jorge saw below was even more heartbreaking. Each pinprick of light and smoke was another settlement or base that had gone up in flames because of the Covenant. Another hundred or so innocent lives that had been snuffed out and lost. This war had taken so many lives and right now, there were more than a dozen of these burning pinpricks on the planet's surface. How many had already perished down there or were being actively hunted? Would this be enough to save them or would it just be a waste in the long run? Six didn't know and frankly the only thing he could do was pilot the Sabre to Anchor 9. The coming battle would help him release any anger he had. Operation: Upper Cut had begun.

 _"Noble Actual to Sabre Bravo Oh-Two-Niner, over."_ Colonel Urban Holland radioed as they neared the station.

"Copy, Actual. Colonel Holland?" Jorge replied.

 _"Affirmative, Noble Five. Welcome to Operation: UPPER CUT. I'll be your control from here on out."_

"Understood, Colonel."

 _"Noble Six, these Sabres have been customized for orbital defense; you may need to get reacquainted. Rendezvous at Anchor 9 with the frigate Savannah and the other Sabres as soon as you're ready. Holland out."_

Six began checking his instruments to make sure everything was in order. The throttle and pedals were still the same as they originally had been. The afterburners were good to go and the inertial dampeners that allowed the Sabre to make evasive maneuvers without the pilots being affected were in prime condition. The weaponry was still intact, in fact there was more ammo on this Sabre than Six had during his training. The double combo barrier and shield that protected the craft was the only thing that was new. With everything checking out, Six immediately thrusted the throttle forward and the Sabre responded by picking up more speed to arrive at the staging point right in front of Anchor 9. At the same time, the UNSC _Savannah_ was docking at another part with the platform to get ready for the upcoming mission. Everything was going well so far until Jorge spoke.

"Multiple unidentified contacts." He stated and his words proved true when comms officer on the _Savannah_ radioed in to all the pilots.

 _"Savannah Actual to Sabre teams, be advised: we have bogies inbound."_

 _"Anchor 9 to all UNSC ships: station defenses are down, requesting combat support until we can bring them back online."_

"Here we go, Six." Jorge stated as Six readied the Sabre's weapons. "Show them what you can do." Six nodded and joined with the other Sabres who had joined into formation in front of the platform. As they moved away from the platform and into open space, a point marking where the Covenant forced would appear made itself known on Six's visor. Turning toward the area which was located above him, Six at first saw empty space before that part of the sky disgorged five Covenant Banshee Interceptors from small glowing tears that quickly disappeared when their contents were away from the tears. Six and every other Sabre that followed him instantly fired their machine guns at the Banshee's undersides. Several of them instantly exploded into pieces and those that remained instantly went into overdrive to get out of the area of fire. Below Six's Sabre group another half a dozen or so Banshee's tore out of slipspace and began to engage the station's defenders. The Sabres instantly broke formation and tore after the Banshee's or were chased by them. It began one great big dogfight as the Sabres used their machine guns and afterburners to fly and destroy the multiple Banshee Interceptors.

 _"Defensive batteries are at 56%. Hang in there, Sabre teams."_ Anchor 9 announced over radio. The Sabre teams just had to last long enough till the station defenses were back online and thankfully they had some luck.

Now even without a pair of Spartans, one of whom piloted a Sabre before, the other Sabre teams would have won soon enough against the Banshees. The thing about Banshees, even those adapted to space condition, was that they had rather weak armor. It was their speed and explosive plasma that made them a threat and the Sabre's own abilities canceled that advantage. Six took out five of them before moving onto the sixth and last one. Its pilot attempted to evade Six and the other Sabres by using the debris floating by Anchor 9. That was a mistake for the other pilots may not have been that good but Six was. Tailing the lone Banshee through the debris field, Six followed the enemy ship closely watching it try to dodge and evade him to no avail. It escaped down one closing path while Six took a second path. As soon as the Banshee had exited the debris field Six appeared out of another area and gunned it down.

"Well done, Six." Jorge applauded as the Sabre began turning back toward the platform. Then as if the universe wanted to prove Jorge wrong and make things worse overall, Anchor 9 radioed the Sabre teams again.

 _"Anchor 9 to UNSC ships: impulse drive signatures detected. Fighter-class. Heads up, Sabres!"_

The warning came in only seconds before the sky erupted into lights again and out dropped multiple Seraphs which quickly began to move against the Sabres and the platform. Now the Seraphs were completely different from Banshees as they had thicker, stronger armor and were protected by an energy shield, making them tougher to take down. They were also slightly faster than Banshees overall making them more of a problem for the defenders. Six gracefully dodged one that nearly crashed into him before swerving into the middle of the dogfight to help his comrades.

" _Get this guy off my tail!"_

" _Can't shake this bastard!"_

" _Getting hit by Seraph fire!"_

" _I need help!"_

 _"Sabre teams: use your guns to take down their shields, then hit 'em with your missiles!"_ Holland had radioed in but for some the advice came in too late. The radio began filling with the cries of the Sabre pilots who were beginning to face problems facing these Seraphs. A number of voices were silenced by static however and explosions occurred in the night sky soon after. It saddened Six to know that a few of those were Sabres and not Seraphs.

 _"Defensive batteries at 79%; buy us another minute, Sabre teams."_ Anchor 9 called out.

' _How about you hurry it up already.'_ Six thought angrily. He could understand to an extent but men were dying out here and one minute could be a minute too long. Determined to end this before it could get it any worse, Six took off after one Seraph that was harassing another Sabre. The Seraph attempted to shake him while chasing its prey but the Spartan was a better flyer than the Covenant at the controls. The machine guns slowly whittled down the Seraph's shields before Six switched to rockets and fired. Four rockets flew from the Sabre and then sped up to catch the Seraph. It attempted to dodge but it was rather futile and the Seraph went up in flames. The process continued on like this for a few minutes, with Six chasing every Seraph in sight with machine gun followed by rockets. Though it took longer and there were casualties compared to the first wave, the station defenders were able to destroy them all. Of course as soon as the Seraphs were taken care, the Sabre teams were once again alerted.

 _"Anchor 9 to all craft in the vicinity, be advised: we show a large attack force inbound. Combat air patrol and Sabre teams are directed to engage and defend the station."_

Jorge-052: "Is there any place the Covenant isn't?" Jorge growled in frustration. Six was rather inclined to agree with him.

 _"Anchor 9 to all UNSC ships: station defenses are back online. Clear the lane, and we'll light 'em up."_

' _About damn time too.'_ Six thought as he saw the third wave of Covenant attackers erupt from slipspace. There were large numbers of Seraphs and Banshees entering the area and Six knew that this would become the toughest part of the battle for the skies of Reach. The dogfight for Anchor 9 between the Covenant and UNSC fighters began, meanwhile Anchor 9's point defense guns assisted taking down some of the more problematic enemy ships. Six ended up being chased by a Banshee while playing chicken with a Seraph. At the last moment, he had swerved out of the way, allowing the Banshee to crash into the Seraph and drain its shields while simultaneously destroying the Banshee. Then Six used his rockets on the now defenseless Seraph and destroyed it before going off to help the other Sabre teams. Many more Banshee Interceptors and Seraphs alike were destroyed by the combined firepower of the Sabres and Anchor 9 though many more Sabre teams were lost in the process and the situation only seemed to get worse.

 _"Anchor 9 to Sabre teams: Phantom signatures detected on a forward facing vector."_

Sure enough, several heavily-armed Phantom Gunboats entered the area from where the Banshees and Seraphs had appeared earlier, their shields quickly going up and their guns beginning to glow with plasma.

 _"Anchor 9 to all UNSC fighters: multiple inbound Phantoms headed straight for our defensive batteries. Sabre teams, marking high-value gunboat targets - now."_

Six instantly broke off from the dogfight and went after the Phantoms. They were far more dangerous than either the Banshees or Seraphs and those few left were being taken care of by the platform's defenses and the other Sabres. With nothing to hold him back, Six dived after the Phantoms, firing his missiles at the gunboats in an attempt to get their attention. The ploy worked as one of the Phantoms went up in flames after eight torpedoes struck it in quick succession and the remaining five Phantoms turned their weapons toward the Sabre. The plasma they fired was far more explosive, and therefore dangerous, then the Banshees or Seraphs were and Six was forced to turn away several times to restore his shields, something he didn't have to do the entire battle. It took longer than he expected and by the time he took out five of the six gunboats, the last was close enough to Anchor 9.

 _"Gunboats are in position, damage control teams at the ready."_ Anchor 9 radioed everyone and Six pushed everything he had into the afterburners and as soon as he locked onto the Phantom, he fired two salvos of rockets. The Phantom disappeared in a flash as the rockets tore through the armor, hitting the weapon systems and engines at the same time. As Six flew through the disintegrating cloud of rubble revealing that nothing was left of the Phantoms that had come to attack Anchor 9. With the last Phantom gunboat is destroyed, the remaining Banshees and Seraphs fled the battlefield, being chased all the while by the remaining overeager Sabre teams.

 _"Anchor 9 to UNSC ships: all targets neutralized. Bravo Oh-Two-Niner, you are cleared to dock. Activating marker."_

 _"Holland to Bravo Oh-Two-Niner. Noble Five, you ready to go?"_

"Affirmative, Colonel." Jorge answered with slight relief in his voice.

 _"Noble Six, head for the marker. Initiate docking procedure."_

"Roger, sir." Six replied before piloting the Sabre to the marked hangar which was located in the very center of the Anchor 9 platform. As Noble Six's Sabre approached the hangar doors, a series of clamping mechanisms grabbed his slowing Sabre, eventually bringing the aircraft to a full stop. Several more mechanisms began latching themselves onto the different parts of the Sabre to either refuel, repair, or rearm whatever they could in the few minutes they had. As the two Spartans waited for the process to complete, Jorge looked over the edge of the window and down toward the planet, his position providing him with a good view of an area below them.

"Megszakad a szivem..." Jorge murmured quietly though Six was able to hear him clearly enough. Whatever he was saying, he was saying in his own helmet but thanks to his own enhanced senses, Six was able to grasp what was being said.

" _My heart breaks..."_ Noble Six translated in his head as he glanced back at Jorge. He wouldn't be able to see it with his helmet on but Six sent a comforting smile toward Jorge in response. He understood, he had read Jorge's file before joining Noble Team. Jorge was the not just a Spartan II but he had actually been born and raised on Reach before he joined the Spartan Program. This place was both his home planet in not just a spiritual sense but also quite literal as well so to see it like this was heartrending. Six remembered the feeling well when he saw his world burn. It was quite the sight, one nobody is able to take their eyes off of.

 _"Noble Five? Please repeat."_ Auntie Dot asked. It took a few good seconds before Jorge bothered to answer.

"Pull up surface grid, 19 by 22." Six quietly checked the area on his visor and got a spectacular orbital view of the Viery Territory by camera.

 _"Gladly. ONI Sword Base: Sector 18G."_ Auntie Dot clarified. Six watched as the area where Sword Base was located was slowly bombarded by explosions occurring on the surface while surrounding areas appeared as dying embers. The purple-blue bubbles of plasma quickly expanded before disappearing, leaving angry, glowing, red lights that extended miles in diameter.

"Thermal enhance."

 _"Noble Five, your pulse is elevated. There is nothing you can do for Doctor Halsey and the others inside SWORD Base. The mathematics are determinate... Noble Five?"_ Noble Six looked back over his shoulder at Jorge again in slight worry. He may not have been part of this team long. In fact, Noble Six knew he had always been a lone wolf. But he had grown to care for his teammates and seeing Jorge like this was slightly worrisome. He could only hope that things would work in their favor.

"I know." Jorge said in a resigned tone of voice.

 _"Bravo Oh-Two-Niner, you're cleared to re-engage thrusters."_ Anchor 9 announced as the clamps holding their Sabre let go. Six pressed a button in the cockpit and his Sabre backed away before leaving the hangar behind.

 _"Noble Six, this is Holland."_

"Go ahead, Colonel."

 _"We've flagged a Corvette-class vessel on a predicted docking track with our target. Your job will be to capture the vessel and direct toward the target supercarrier. Once docked, all assets will be used to try and capture the supercarrier intact. Failing that, you are to use the corvette's slipspace drive as a bomb to destroy both so as to weaken the Covenant presence on the surface. I need your Sabre team to clear the way for boarding."_

"Understood, Colonel."

 _"As she's free and in the vicinity, the Savannah will be joining you to provide local fire support."_

 _"UNSC Savannah. We've got your back."_ A crewman from the _Savannah_ said to boost morale even as the small battlegroup consisting of said ship and the surviving number of Sabres flew off to the area where the corvette was going to be.

 _"I've stuck my neck out for Noble on this one, Lieutenant."_ Holland finished.

"We'll get it done, Colonel. Six out." Six said before turning off the radio and directing his Sabre alongside the _Savannah._

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **1513 Hours, August 3, 2552 (Military Calendar) / NAV Beacon RA-15 observing the Ardent Prayer, Covenant-occupied space, Reach orbit**

It took a while as the _Savannah_ couldn't use its slipspace drive to get there faster due to leaving the Sabres behind and risk alerting the Covenant. But eventually they came to the area in Reach's orbit where they enemy ship was supposed to be located. An image from a UNSC satellite near the Covenant corvette appeared on Six's screen showing the vessel's underbelly and revealing the name for the ship as the _Ardent Prayer_. Behind the corvette, off in the distance, Six could see the outlines of the _Savannah_ and her group approaching as the camera zoomed in. Lifting his head from the screen, Six could see the _Ardent Prayer_ growing ever closer, confirming the satellite's work.

 _"Target Corvette sighted within visual range of NAV Beacon RA-15."_ Auntie Dot announced on all radios.

"We have visual. Target confirmed." Six declared.

 _"Frigate Savannah in position. Sabre teams: sound off."_

 _"Echo 1, all systems nominal."_

 _"Echo 2, good to go."_

 _"Echo 3, systems green."_

 _"Echo 4, all systems online!"_

"Echo 5, we're ready." Six said after the first four teams finished with their announcements.

 _"Solid copy. We are currently jamming the Corvette's comms. Hit it hard while it can't call for help!"_ The _Savannah_ stated as they approached the enemy ship.

 _"Agreed. Sabre teams, clear a path to that Corvette."_ Holland ordered.

 _"Might wanna clip her engines, Colonel. See if we can slow her down."_ The _Savannah_ suggested.

 _"Good thinking, Savannah. That'll make boarding her a whole lot easier. Noble Six, I'm marking targets: take out the Corvette's main engines."_ Holland agreed as a number of markers appeared on Six's visor, marking the engines that they could take out with the Sabre. Meanwhile, the _Savannah_ and the other Sabres began firing on the corvette and its small guard of Seraphs with their weaponry to allow Six to do his mission unimpeded. Six would do it of course but first he had to do something. He had saw something in the picture the satellite had shown. Something on the bottom of the corvette that looked suspiciously like aircraft. Considering that they could be a threat during the mission, Six decided to dive below the Covenant ship and take care of this potential threat. Not being aware of Six's thought process, Jorge was looking over his station and what it entailed before being slammed back into his seat when Six ignited the afterburners.

"What are you doing Six?" Jorge called out, gripping whatever handholds he could at the moment, as their Sabre sped away from the attack group and began to dive under the corvette.

"Taking care of an issue." Six answered Jorge simply before pressing the button down on the Sabre's machine gun once they were under the corvette. Six was right to be suspicious. The underside of the _Ardent Prayer_ was lined with Banshee Interceptors and by the looks of them, they were powering up. The Sabre's machine gun instantly put an end to that as the corvette's undercarriage instantly went alight with multiple explosions. Sometimes the bullets exiting the gun didn't even have to touch one of the Banshees to destroy them. The plasma fire, debris, and general proximity of the explosions usually did the job for Six. The Banshees at the far end tried to get away and almost succeeded. But Six finished up with the final and dived after them where they were quickly taken out by rockets. With the Banshees no longer a problem to deal with, Six turned back toward the corvette with the intention of taking out its engines now. As the Sabre shot past the corvette's side, the targeting systems on the Covenant weapons alongside the ship began to fire at Six's sabre. Seeing the incoming balls of plasma, Six flew his Sabre around, dodging, evading, and generally succeeding in escaping whatever the corvette threw at him. With each pass, Six targeted the main engines and some the weapons for good measure, disabling all those his rockets hit. The other Sabres merely continued fighting, and winning, against the Covenant escort fighters, while the _Savannah_ circled the corvette and harassed it with gunfire. Any Seraphs that got to close to the frigate were soon shredded by her defense guns. However, as soon as the immediate problem was resolved, did a new problem arise.

 _"Warning: energy pulses detected in the Corvette's aft launch bays."_ Auntie Dot warned the Sabre teams.

 _"Heads up, Sabres: multiple impulse drive signatures detected, more bogies incoming."_ The _Savannah_ notified as Six turned to see several more Banshees and Seraphs appear out of slipspace.

 _"Echo 2 to Savannah Actual. Where are the reinforcements coming from? I thought the target was jammed."_

 _"Must be squadrons coming back from patrol, Echo 2."_

 _"Don't let any of them get away, Sabres! Kill them before they bug out and warn that supercarrier what we're up to."_ Holland immediately radioed out to the Sabre teams while the _Savannah_ began trading broadsides with the _Ardent Prayer_. The Corvette would have deployed a reinforcements to help the Seraph escort, but the Sabres and the _Savannah_ easily destroyed the reinforcements for the corvette as well. Though it took a while, and a number of Sabres were destroyed, leaving only four left altogether, all of the Corvette's escort fighters were completely destroyed. With the corvette currently focused on the _Savannah_ and the Sabres now flying around with no enemy to fight, Six waited for somebody to tell him the next part of the mission.

 _"Dot, analyze all available data on that Corvette. Find a way inside."_ Holland ordered from wherever he was.

 _"Scans indicate a structural weakness surrounding a platform on top of the vessel."_

 _"Noble Six, set down immediately on that Corvette's topside landing pad."_ Noble Six began his approach to the landing pad which was covered by an overhanding roof of armor with two openings on opposite sides. It had been built in such a way that couldn't be seen with the naked eye, especially during battle, but it offered a way for anybody to get in or out easily if the launch bays were unavailable. Slowly, Noble Six arrived at the landing pad, gently hovering the Sabre over an open space alongside the three other Sabres. Once everything was clear, Six and Jorge both got out of the Sabre along with several UNSC Air Force pilots in vacuum sealed suits from the other Sabres. In front of them was a wide circle opening that was covered by a plasma shield, preventing any of the corvette's atmosphere from escaping into the void of space. Six looked down on the shield that protected the one way they had in and wondered if they would be able to get through. Off in the distance, Six could see the _Savannah_ continue to engage the _Ardent Prayer_ , which returned fire to the best of its abilities considering the amount of damage it suffered earlier. Any remaining Seraphs and Sabres continued to chase each other around the two starships like angry cats and dogs.

 _"Noble Six, the Savannah's countermeasures won't work forever. Find a way inside, and permanently disable the cruiser's communications."_ Holland radioed in. Six nodded but he wanted to make sure that the shield would allow them through without causing problems. Thankfully, that question was immediately answered when two Sangheili Rangers emerged from under the shield on jetpacks and were quickly shot full of holes by Six, Jorge and the pilots.

 _"As soon as we're sure the Corvette can't squawk, we'll initiate RED FLAG - Phase Two."_

Noble Six looked toward Jorge who merely nodded in response and the two Spartans plus their pilots jumped through the shield and entered the communication center of the corvette, to find that the room's artificial gravity and life support were offline, most likely due to damage from the battle. and that any Covenant without vacuum-sealed armor have died, leaving only a few Grunt Ultras and more Elite Rangers. The two rangers were busy on some consoles and the Grunts were wandering around. Seeing no traps or ambushes around the room, Noble Six and the strike team quickly jumped down through the shield soon after. As soon as Six's body had passed through the shield, gravity instantly reasserted itself on his body and his fall quickened. Fortunately, he landed on something firm but soft. Unfortunately, the thing he landed on happened to be one of the Elite Rangers working on the console who promptly died from a combination of being crushed by the Spartan's weight suddenly spreading across his spine, thus breaking it and a knife to the brain. By the time the other Elite Ranger heard his comrade die, Six had already gotten up and then placed his shotgun behind the Elite's head and pulled the trigger. The rest of the strike team was greeted with the sight of an Elite falling forward and to the ground while the console in front of him was covered in purple blood, bone, and brain matter. It really didn't matter in the end cause they still had to take care of the Grunts, but after the show Six put on, none of them were willing to fight in the first place. After a grand total of 8.7 seconds, every single Covie in the corvette's comm room was dead and the corvette was no longer broadcasting any signals or messages for help.

 _"Holland to Savannah, enemy comm relay is now offline."_

 _"Copy that. Halting countermeasures, diverting all power and personnel to weapons."_

 _"Alright, Noble. Let's take control of the ship. Six, head for the hangar."_

As if in response to the incoming question about where they needed to go, a door on one side of the room opened up with two Grunts and an Elite Ranger behind it, obviously sent to check on the sudden radio silence from the comms relay. The Grunts, seeing the Spartans and the strike team behind them, were easily startled and easily eliminated in turn. The Ranger, with no reinforcements available to him and against two Spartans and 6 UNSC airmen, was killed seconds afterward with no ceremony. With the way opened to them, the 8 men now continued down the hallway toward the hangar room, at least they assumed it was the right direction. Thankfully, the hallway was short, straight, and had no other paths branching off with only a slight drop in elevation before the team reached the door at the end. Upon being opened, Six, Jorge and the troopers came across a large room with two large gates protected by shields leading to space and a large amount of equipment scattered about. This was definitely the hangar and it was filled with a large number of enemy troops, including an Engineer. As one, the Covenant forces turned toward the open doorway and pulled their weapons up in response. Six and Jorge both headed in opposite directions, up certain ramps toward platforms that overlooked the hangar while the pilots stayed on the ground behind same natural barriers built into the ship. To make matters even worse for the attackers, the entire room was devoid of air and gravity making the room a rather chaotic firefight. The Spartans were used to this type of combat and to a certain degree, so were the pilots that accompanied them. The thing was, the Covenant had every advantage here and it caused most of the UNSC forces to move behind cover.

Still, there was a chance for the UNSC forces. Numerous plasma coils of varying size were lying about the hangar, unpacked and unsecured, with the Covenant standing in front of them. From his platform, Six shot several of the coils with his rifle and several fireballs instantly erupted behind the Covenant lines, taking a few of the Grunts and at least two of the Elites with them. Using the lack of gravity, one of the surviving Elite Rangers used a jump-pack to get to one of the platforms behind him with Six giving chase and jumping after him. While, Six was going after the Elite and whatever Covies were on his side, Jorge was firing his machine gun at the Engineer which was hovering in his area. Engineers were the Covenant's way of trying to establish a more secure checkpoint. In case of firefights, these Engineers provided any nearby Covenant ground troops with overshields as an added defense. However, they weren't capable of defending themselves and Jorge's machine gun tore the poor creature apart within seconds. Once the Engineer exploded, the remaining Covies were easier to take care of. While Six chased after the Elite Rangers that were using both their jetpacks and the lack of gravity to get around, Jorge mowed down every single Grunt that came in his sights and the more he killed, the more the human pilots were able to move around and act. The added fire support ended up taking out what remaining Covenant the two Spartans didn't get. One last Elite Ranger attempted to escape by means of the door on the opposite side of the room but Six ran down from the platform ramp and jumped between the Elite and the door with his shotgun pointed outward. The Elite tried to stop and dodge the gun's barrel but the lack of gravity worked against him and a spray of purple blood blew out his back where it drifted in the air while the now dead Ranger collapsed at Six's feet. The threat was now neutralized and it seemed the pilots were aware of it cause not a second later, the air and gravity subsequently returned to the interior of the hangar.

 _"Six, go for those shield controls. Reinforcements are going to need in."_ Jorge radioed from across the hangar. A waypoint appeared on Six's visor, showing him the way toward the controls for the shields of the hangar bay. It was back on the platform the Six had originally jumped on when he chased his second Elite. Jogging back the way he came, Six came upon the controls and flipped the switch, deactivating the shield guarding the hangar bay. The bright blue shield dimmed slightly, still intact so as to keep the atmosphere inside but now allowing anybody to fly in or out of the hangar. As if in response, two Pelicans passed through the lowered shields on both sides of the corvette and entered the hangar. In the background behind the incoming Pelicans, Six could see the UNSC _Savannah_ engaging the corvette still, slightly damaged but still fighting as hard as it could. Once the Pelicans had landed, their back doors opened and several more Air Force pilots plus a number of Spartans emerged from the aircraft's bowels, including the rest of Noble Team.

"Powder keg is aboard, Colonel." Jorge radioed to Colonel Holland.

 _"Copy that."_ Holland answered immediately. _"Six, get your fireteam; the corvette's refueling run with the supercarrier will have to be initiated manually. Noble Team will be taking the armory. Red Team will be staying in the hangar to guard against further incursions. Blue Team will capture the engine room and discourage the curious. Once you dock with the supercarrier, all Spartan teams will initiate any and all attempts to capture and hold the Covenant supercarrier from its occupants. Failing that, the pilots left behind on the corvette will initiate the ship's self-destruct, either by blowing up its engines or sabotaging its slipspace drive to prevent the supercarrier from falling back into enemy hands."_

"Yes, sir." Six radioed back.

"It will be our pleasure. Hear that, Lieutenant? We'll be all by our lonesome back there. Make it quick, would ya?" Jorge added as Noble Team began to speed off into the bowels of the corvette. Six turned away and joined the Air Force pilots who were securing the area. With the subtle movement of his head, the pilots and him moved toward the door that would lead toward the bridge of the ship after gathering up the necessary ordnance and ammo that had been provided by the pilots.

Holland's voice came back over the radio. " _Noble Six, get that Corvette moving toward the supercarrier. Head for the bridge. Find the NAV controls."_

Six only sent a signal back meaning he understood and moved with the pilots toward the triple doorway on the opposite side of the hangar they had originally come out of. The central door extended out toward the center of the hangar room while two other doors were placed on both sides of the center one. All three doors opened simultaneously as the two teams approached them, revealing to Six, Noble Team, and the troopers another surprised pair of Grunts, and several Elites behind some quickly established barricades in a larger room behind the center door with three more hallways branching off the other sides of the room. As the Covies fired bolts of plasma outward, Carter moved closer to Six so the Spartan could hear him.

"Six." Carter called out. "You, me, and Kat will go down the left hallway while Emile, Jun, and Jorge take the right. The pilots will keep them busy from the front while we flank them." Six nodded in response. Turning toward the pilots on both sides of the open doorway, Six used a series of hand gestures to relay the plan to them. The pilots nodded in understanding as well before the Spartans split into two three-man teams and each went through the side doors. The hallways were thankfully short and opened into the small room where the Covies and their barricade were. The two Spartan teams each threw three grenades into the room and escaped behind the walls again before an explosion of fire, smoke, and shrapnel burst out of the doorway. The Spartans instantly turned around the corner, guns up, only to find the Covenant disorganized and all of the Elites down. The two Ultras, the two Grunts attempted to make suicide runs with plasma grenades but were shot dead. Only one last Covie was left alive which was an Elite General whose legs were bleeding and appeared slightly twisted. The Elite was attempting to crawl away toward a console near the door when Six casually stepped on the Elite's wrist, crushing it in the process. The Elite turned its head to Six and let out one last defiant roar before Six's shotgun finished it off. With the Covenant defenders dead, the Spartans and UNSC pilots now continued down the hallway away from the hangar doors. However, as the combined UNSC forces headed down the corridor, their radios instantly lit up.

 _"Savannah to Holland: sustaining major structural damage! We need to break off, Colonel!"_

 _"Copy, Savannah. Our team is in, disengage!"_ Holland radioed back in response to the _Savannah's_ cry of distress. The UNSC team tore through the slightly twisted hallway and out another doorway into an open room. The room's ceiling was high and had a platform in the back with a number of columns and barriers in the middle to hold up the ceiling. The far end of the room was the most impressive part of the place for where the outer wall should have been was instead another plasma shielded wall that kept the ship's atmosphere from escaping while revealing the battle outside. The _Savannah_ was still fighting but it was heavily damaged and it looked like it couldn't take anymore what with the miniature explosions blooming along its hull. Apparently the room was a plasma battery that controlled the ship's weapons on this side of the corvette and right now, the plasma battery was being operated by a lone Elite gunner. With a sense of urgency hanging over him, Six instantly ran toward the Elite, grabbed onto its back and began wrenching its head to the side until he heard the sickening crack of the alien's neck breaking. Once the Elite collapsed under him, Six hit the controls of the console the gunner had been using, essentially turning the corvette's weapons off of the _Savannah_ at the very least. Looking up, Six was pleased to note that the corvette's plasma fire had stopped in part, allowing the _Savannah_ to escape the confrontation and open up a slipspace portal. The fleeing frigate soon disappeared into the portal it created without ceremony and like that, Six suddenly realized that they were now alone in a Covenant controlled ship without reinforcements or a speedy escape.

"Frigate's gone, Six... Nothing we can do now." Jorge said as Six stared out at space, temporarily lost in thought. Jorge's words and the incoming call from Colonel Holland snapped Six out of his trance.

 _"Noble, you're in deep with no cover. Get that corvette moving and either complete the mission or get the hell outta there!"_ Holland's tone was commanding and slightly furious by the sound of it. With the plasma battery secure, Six and the Marines now headed for another door on the bottom level while Noble Team headed toward another door opposite the one they came out of on the top level of the plasma battery

"Make sure to hurry up Six, don't want to get stuck here if we have to bug out." Jorge mentioned as the rest of Noble Team moved toward the upper door. Six merely nodded in response before he and the pilots headed for the lower door. With the plasma battery secured, the two teams split and went their separate ways. As the door to the hallway closed behind him, Six and his fireteam trudged ahead. The hallway curved and twisted far more than the last few did and for a moment, Six was getting worried that they might not be getting anywhere. Until they finally came to another set of doors, which opened at their presence, revealing the bridge of the corvette.

"Looks like the bridge, Spartan. Let's clear it out." One of the pilots mentioned.

' _Now that is something we can agree on.'_ Six thought with a small smile on his masked face as he and the pilots sneaked into positions around the bridge. The Covenant bridge crew was managing the controls, completely unaware of the human presence that had recently stepped inside. Off in the distance outside the windows, was the supercarrier they were supposed to capture, the _Long Night of Solace_. Somewhere inside this room were the controls to set the ship on course toward the supercarrier and they had to find it quickly. A series of beeps on Six's HUD indicated that the other teams had succeeded in their objectives leaving them as the last members. There would be no further problems after this. With a few hand signs, Noble Six and the Air Force pilots slowly crawled up toward their nearest targets stealthily.

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Shipmaster Ardo 'Moretumee of the Covenant corvette _Ardent Prayer,_ was currently looking over his fellow crew's work as well as checking on the progress of the boarders. When the human ship appeared to do battle, he and his fellow Sangheili fought back valiantly. Halfway through the fight, the communications array went offline. Not long after, news came from the hangars that the humans boarded with demons to help them. Ardo 'Moretumee sent as many reinforcements as he could to the area but contact with them had ended not long ago. Soon after that however, the human ship had fled, damaged and disgraced. While the humans and their new allies fought hard and well, they usually never left their comrades behind in enemy territory. It was a given and judging by the reports coming across the multiple stations he looked over, it appeared that the humans had either retreated or been killed. Still, something didn't feel right. The cameras and sensors that crisscrossed the interior of the ship had been damaged or shutdown which meant the enemy could still be on board. They would have to reestablish contact with the rest of the ship and search it over in the meantime.

A movement caught Ardo's eye and he looked in the general direction to see something that both saddened and infuriated him. A single human soldier was casually waving at him with a grin on his face while two more of his compatriots were dragging the body of a fellow Sangheili away, leaving a trail of purple blood. The shipmaster's blood boiled and he was prepared to stride over and rip the arrogant worm in two when someone tapped his shoulder pad from behind. Turning around, Ardo saw his reflection in a blue visor which belonged, to his great shock, a grey-armored demon.

"Sorry but we're commandeering your vessel split-lips." The demon said. Ardo knew enough of the human language to understand and comprehend what it was saying which only made him angrier. But before he could draw out his sword, call the crew to arms, and kill the insufferable thing standing before him, pain suddenly bloomed in his body and the world grew dimmer. Ardo tried to breath but found that he couldn't. It was as if he were drowning. How? Why couldn't he breathe? Why was the room spinning and going dark? Why was his suit feeling slightly damp and were did that demon get a purple colored knife? Oh. It was his blood on the demon's knife. He was dying. Ardo was only able to comprehend that his throat had been slit in these final moments before the last of his awareness told him that he was now lying on the floor as he saw the demon walk away. Then darkness closed in and Shipmaster Ardo 'Moretumee knew no more.

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Noble Six casually cleaned his blade as he approached a console that appeared to have the controls he needed to find. The bridge crew had been tough and there were a few close calls but so far, everything had worked out well.

 _"Move, Lieutenant! Put that Corvette on a refueling track to the supercarrier."_ Colonel Holland's voice interrupted his thought process and Six began looking over the controls until a glowing panel with a certain sequence caught his attention. Sure that he was looking at the necessary controls, Six flipped the switch and gathered his team as the corvette began moving toward the supercarrier. _"Well done, Noble Six. UPPERCUT initiated. Corvette is underway."_

With the bridge now under their control, Six and his team headed back toward the hangar. Jorge's voice came on the radio when they reached the plasma battery. _"Six, mission complete. We're heading back to the hangar."_ Six acknowledged with an affirmative before quickening his pace. There were a few more bodies scattered about that hadn't been in the area earlier. Six guessed that whatever crew had been left on board tried to do something before dying painfully. Still, everything went quietly and the fireteam arrived back in the hangar to find everyone safe and sound. Six's arrival went unnoticed until Jorge turned around.

"Good of you to come." He said with a smile in his voice. "Was wondering when you were coming around."

"Had to take care of a few problems." Six replied in humor. As the reunited UNSC forces now stood together in the hangar, Colonel Holland once again radioed in.

" _Alright everybody, listen up. The Savannah is damaged and unavailable to provide further assistance and once you're onboard, we probably won't be able to contact you by radio. Which means you guys will be alone up there. Your mission hasn't changed. Use the corvette to infiltrate the Covenant supercarrier. Capture the bridge, weapon control, communications, engine rooms as swiftly and silently as possible. Once these areas are captured and its acknowledged that the ship is under your control, a small strike force at Anchor 9 will surround the supercarrier and dock to help with any remaining Covenant crew on the ship. If this plan should fail, your job will be to use the corvette's slipspace drive as a modified bomb and escape. The bomb will take care of both ships and the Covenant will be unable to hold onto their footholds here on Reach as a result. Understood."_

"Understood sir." Six heard Carter answer in response.

" _One more thing. In accordance with the mission parameters of Operation: Red Flag, command of this OP will go to the leader of Blue Team, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117. While you do outrank him, you will follow his commands when necessary. Understood."_

"Yes sir." Carter answered.

" _Good luck out there. Holland out."_ The radio shut off for the last time, leaving everybody alone in the ship awkwardly silent. They were essentially cut off now. There wouldn't be any reinforcements to help or back up plans to fall on. It was either succeed or fail. Should they fail, it would mean one less threat to Reach, but the loss of a potential asset.

"So which one do you suppose is our new co-leader?" Jun asked, breaking the silence.

"That would be me." A voice answered in response. Noble then turned around to see a Spartan II in greenish armor approach them. "You're Noble Team." It wasn't a question

"Yes sir." Carter said. "I'm Commander Carter-A259. This is Lieutenant Commander Catherine-B320, Chief Warrant Officer Jorge-052, Warrant Officer Emile-A239, Warrant Officer Jun-A266, and Lieutenant B312." Carter pointed at each one as he went down the list. The Master Chief nodded toward Jorge when he was mentioned, the two Spartans IIs sharing a moment of close comradeship that extending back since they Spartan II Program had been initiated. It had been a long time since either of them last saw each other but it was good to see that both were alive and well. The Chief then turned his head toward Six when his name came up and the look he gave him was calculating. Six felt like he was being studied and had to keep from either squirming or puffing himself out in confidence. He just gave his own steely gaze back at this Spartan.

"Why don't you have a name?" The Chief asked.

"Classified." Six answered. "Just call me Six. Everybody else does." The Spartan II nodded in acquiescence before he tilted his head very slightly, as if he was listening to somebody.

"We're approaching the supercarrier. Get into positions." Master Chief said before walking off. Noble Team gave their weaponry and armor one final checkup before heading toward their hatch where they would start from. Everybody else was heading to their respective positions, places where they could hide and set up checkpoints that would make it easy to sneak past, defend, or ambush from. It took half a minute before Six could see multiple green lights blinking on his HUD. Everybody was ready and not long after, Six felt the corvette dock. Though he maintained a professional outlook and was ready to spring into the fight at a moment's notice, Six felt somewhat hopeful, perhaps even giddy, on the inside. It had been far too long since something unexpected of this magnitude took place and when these moments occurred, the Allies usually came out on top. They were taking the fight to where it would actually hurt the Covenant. Today might mark the turning of the tide. All he could hope, was that everything would work out in the end. The hatches began to turn The lights on his HUD blinked once more to signal everyone to get ready.

' _Let's see what they have in store for us.'_ Six thought.

The hatch turned blue and the doors to the supercarrier swung open.

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 **Happy Valentine's Day / St. Patrick's Day / Holi everyone! (NO, ITS NOT TOO LATE!)**

 ***The author immediately pulls back from the screen, slightly disheveled, clothes torn, and kiss marks, clover chains, and colored powder on his exposed skin. Meanwhile in the background, Krampus is handing out candy to the reviews that were savagely mauled last chapter.***

 **Right so, hello again everyone. Some news just to sum up the last two or so months since I last updated. Trump is president of America, John Hurt & Bill Paxton are dead, and I'm being assaulted by people while trying to finish the latest chapters for my books. At the same time a number of incidents have come up and left me extremely despondent. Suffice to say, February was the worst month of the year for me so far so sorry about the late entry but with what I've been going through, I didn't have the necessary time.**

 ***Author immediately hides under a nearby desk when a large group of people appear in the general vicinity with multiple things in hand. The group rush off in a different direction.***

 **Something that always confused about Valentine's Day as I grew older. Why do we celebrate a holiday about love that is actually dedicated to a Christian saint getting killed for his faith while using the shapes of our posteriors for hearts? Anyone have a rational explanation that ties all that together, cause I can't find one? Also another question, why is a bunny seen as a holiday symbol for the day when Jesus dies? More food for thought on why we are confusing as a species. Never mind that though, you lot get another chapter for both books and I get a moment to rest again before the lethargy sets in and tries to make me lazy. I hate those moments. But still, it's nice to get back to writing this again and you'll possibly get to see another chapter sometime in March so all is good. You also get to see Operation: Red Flag get into play soon. Plus you get to see a character who is coming up next chapter, somebody we all know, love, and would definitely have been doing this if the mission ever had a chance to go through in canon (HOORAY MASTER CHIEF & BLUE TEAM). For the record and those who might make complaints, I know Chief is technically at a lower rank than Six, Carter, or Kat, but he has the experience and knowledge to back him up plus Chief and Carter are working in conjunction so there should be fewer problems, I think. Last thing, the next chapter for the Codex is taking a while, timelines after the Halo Wars is being a pain to fix together but I'll get it finished this month. Alright before I get off track too much, some special mentions to those who reviewed.**

 **Major Simi: Thank you for your support.**

 **Reichenfaust: Quiet right, thank you for that reminder and things are going to get interesting.**

 **Guest Q: Get some sleep than. I appreciate your enthusiasm but I don't want you to become sleep deprived as a result. Also, good work on those calculations.**

 **Halo53: Thanks for the review, I'll try to keep up.**

 **Many Faced Mage: The Autobots will make their move as the war progresses and we will get to see a lot of interactions between characters and races that don't normally work together. Can't wait for that either. Thanks for the review.**

 **TimoremCordeNostro: Thanks for the review and don't worry. I won't kill Six. (Yet.(Nope just kidding.(Maybe.)))**

 **Guest: Yes it is a Protoss. Which Protoss is the question. You guys will probably figure it out if you haven't already.**

 **X: The Stargate part is a little tricky. You'll get the references and see it but it won't make that much of a blip compared to the Halo Wars that is going on right now.**

 **SpacePotato117: Yes they both are part of the same universe. Avalon Federation is a codex for this universe.**

 **Fer82: I hope so too. I really want to show off the Spartan IIs and write more. Thanks for the review.**

 **KillerKaung: Agreed.**

 **Umbra Venator: Thank you.**

 **An Sionnach Rua: Yes I am adding Stargate. It will Be GLORIOUS!**

 **Guest: The mysterious figure is not G-Man and the Allies confrontation with the Covenant on Halo, it will be something like, "Holy S**t!"**

 **BlazingCarnage: Yeah that was something I wanted to rectify in this story since every other story I read focused on bashing the Council for laughs. Not that I didn't laugh myself or that it was somewhat deserved but they shouldn't be portrayed as idiots. Also I think that the Asari developing particle weaponry would be an excellent idea. Might have to add it in later. Thank you for that.**

 **Guest: As for the Krogan nerfing. I wanted to add a little humor plus its Wrex and he was in blood rage mode so it might have been possible. We all know how crazy Krogans can be anyway and I'm not going to do something like that often.**

 **Cionalyn: Thank you and yes Garrus and Thane will go to Halo.**

 **Guest: I'm trying not to nerf either side but it's difficult. Back then I didn't know the math or estimates that went into that. I merely guesstimated based on what I already knew along with some easy to find knowledge on the ships and weaponry involved.**

 **Update: Patience is a virtue. Do not rush me please.**

 **Guest: I'm not sure. While humanity would possibly earn the right to a Council seat and they would prefer joining the Council to the Covenant if given the choice, the war would cause acute xenophobia amongst the populace that is more widespread in this story than in canon Mass Effect universe. I'm kind of waiting to see where it goes from here but I'm definitely considering it.**

 **Crafttyomg: That's actually pretty good. I need to make some jokes along those lines when I get to that. Thank you.**

 **Right, so everyone I hope you enjoy your Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Spring Vacation, and Easter. Also for those of Hindu belief or celebrate it for fun, I wish you a good Holi Festival. Now excuse, I got to get some more of that colored powder and water to throw at people.**


	10. Chapter 10: A Single Spark of Courage

Chapter 10: A Single Spark of Courage

" **Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." – Winston Churchill**

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 **1600 Hours, August 3rd, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Docked with the** _ **Long Night of Solace**_ **in Covenant-occupied space, Reach orbit, Epsilon Eridani System**

As the doorway connecting the Spartan-controlled _Ardent Prayer_ with the _Long Night of Solace_ opened up, the combined forces of Noble and Blue Teams came face to face with a small group of Covenant dockworkers. It was not uncommon amongst docked ships to exchange and/or deliver fresh supplies and new crewmembers. The Spartans had been able to trick the _Long Night_ into letting them dock to take on fuel and to take a look at the damages from the battle with the _Savannah._ The Covenant forces on the supercarrier had accepted this reasoning and left well enough alone. Of course that didn't stop the bridge officers from notifying the dockworkers in the hangar / plaza like area who would check in on the crew to see if they needed help. The workers were accustomed to stuff like this, otherwise they wouldn't have been placed in such a position. So it was quite a surprise to those workers when the doorway to the _Ardent Prayer_ swung open and revealed a group of eleven individual Spartans. Of course the thought was fleeting for most of them since the moment the doors opened, the entire worker crew that had arrived there was instantly mowed down by a deadly hail of bullets. The few that managed to survive the first three seconds of the carnage instantly died within the next seven as the Spartans relentlessly cut down their legs and then aimed for their hearts or their heads.

When the last of the workers died without setting of an alarm and the Spartans relaxed only slightly now that the immediate threat that could have expose them having been taken out. They then began searching the room they were now in that would serve as the beachhead into the _Long Night_ itself. It was much like a bright small interior plaza within the center of a building. Besides the single doorway behind the Spartans which would lead back to the _Ardent Prayer_ , there were six more doorways scattered about the room. Each wall had at least two large doorways with the opposite end of the room having a large bare wall between its two openings. The only thing on that wall that was noticeable was the medium sized console that glowed with some importance. Scattered around the rest of the room were alien crates no doubt filled with things of import. Other than that, there was nothing of note and nobody else save the former work team's bodies which were slowly bleeding out on the floor. With the room secured for now the leading Spartan, known to Noble Team as Master Chief, marched up to the glowing console whereupon he took out a small crystal chip from the back of his helmet and held it up to the device. The small blue light inside it went out for a moment before the console, which had been glowing purple and green before, turned bright blue. The next second a beautiful woman with short hair, moving lines of code going across her seemingly naked body, and a glowing complexion that was the same color of the console, appeared before the eleven man team.

"Now this is much more roomier than that stuffed head of yours Chief." The blue digital woman smirked at her little joke while the members of Noble Team looked on in a small amount of shock.

"You have an AI." Kat was the first to speak up. Blue Team merely gave her a simple glance that seemed to be say, 'what did you expect.' Noble Team was more understanding. They worked with Auntie Dot for a while now but she was still what the Council aliens called a virtual intelligence. A high grade virtual intelligence that outstripped anything the Citadel Council had, but a virtual intelligence non the less with none of the personality or quirks that an AI had. Having an actual AI here would be of great benefit to the mission, and it was an open secret that Kat always wanted one to work with considering her preference toward tinkering with anything, mechanical, electrical, or digital in nature.

"CTN 0452-9 at your service, but you can call me…" the AI began but was swiftly cut off.

"Cortana." The Chief finished expressing his desire for the AI to finish up the conversation and actually get to work.

"Don't worry Chief, I'm getting to it." The blue lady said with the smile still on her lips before popping away. As Cortana focused her entire processor on the Covenant network she was currently linked to the settings around here slowly changed from the bright purple room she had been in before to a sea of glowing computer code. She moved across this digital ocean with an experience born from guesswork and simulations that had been conducted with pieces of Covenant tech that survived. Of course a real Covenant network was rather different than the scrapped or simulated versions that Cortana had come across in the pass. However once Cortana got past the various and multiple firewalls, which were admittedly somewhat easier than expected once she got the hang of it, there was a major problem. Frowning in agitation she disappeared from the sea of data and reappeared on the console she was plugged into. All in a timespan of five seconds since the end of the conversation.

"We got a problem Chief." She stated.

"What is it."

"The network that this console is connected to is separated from the from the main network on this ship and what few connections exist are heavily monitored. I can't figure out enemy numbers, locations, or any other important data."

"Can you break into the main network?"

"Not unless you want me to trigger the alarms. I do have a map of the ship though as well as a number of schedules for daily routines and patrols. I also hacked the security where I could so that we could both see what is ahead. Beyond that we still have to be quiet though, the majority of the crew don't anything at the moment but there is a chance that will change soon."

Chief nodded, it wasn't much to go on but it was certainly better than nothing and they could work with it. He then turned to his companions and began formulating the plan and judging who should go where.

"Alright, I'll be taking James and Kelly with me to assault the bridge of the ship. Our call sign will be Blue-1. Commander Carter, you will be taking Linda and Emile with you to capture the communications room and you're labeled Noble-1. Fred, will take Lieutenant Kat and Jun to capture the engine room in the ship and they will be labeled Blue-2. Noble Six is in charge of Noble-2 which will consist of him and Jorge. According to Cortana, weapons control is close enough to the bride that Noble-2 will be with us for most of the way there. Noble-1 and Blue-2 will be going in the opposite directions. Now once in position outside our respective targets, we will launch our attacks simultaneously to capture these areas while holding off any enemy reinforcements for as long as possible. If our positions become untenable, get out back to the corvette as fast as you can and destroy as much as possible in the process. Blue-3, since you will be attacking the engine room that means that you will be responsible for trying to rig up a slipspace bomb from the carrier's engine. Give us all enough time to get out and be sure that the bomb remains undetected. My team will attempt to do the same thing with the ship's self-destruct on the bridge if arming the bomb becomes problematic. Red Team will be standing by on the corvette to ensure our escape and to provide reinforcements if necessary. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Emile piped up. "Do you expect three five-man Spartan teams to be enough to hold off an entire supercarrier of Covies?" A few of the other Spartans looked slightly miffed but Chief considered it to be a good question despite Emile's tone. After all any Spartan had to learn what their limits were and when to back off if it became too much too handle.

"At least for a short time. Once we have control over our respective areas, Cortana will lock down the both ships from the supercarrier's bridge and vent the atmosphere everywhere save our respective rooms. Once that is done, she will send a signal that will bring an allied fleet here. The new reinforcements should take care of any remaining Covenant forces aboard." Chief explained. After a moment Emile gave a single nod in understanding. With that taken care of, Chief turned fully back to everyone and said, "The routes to your respective targets will be sent to your helmets. Good luck." And just like that, the teams began moving out. Blue-2 went off to the left while Blue-3 headed right. The remaining two teams stuck together and headed off in the direction of the bridge.

The hallways of the supercarrier were large and wide enough for a pair of Hunters to lumber down side by side. For most, these hallways would have been somewhat disturbing. There was certainly enough light for anybody to clearly see what was ahead of them but it was spread out, leaving small patches of the hallways in shadow. Alcoves dotted the walls in certain areas and the halls themselves had sharp blind turns and strange crossroads that could make one feel as if they were in a maze. This was also not counting the fact that everything was painted or colored in purple or blue lights. In short, it was an alien design that made the entire thing feel creepy, as if the enemy was preparing to ambush them as soon as they rounded a corner. The Spartans, as they had been trained to do, ignored this feeling and plowed ahead, the radars in their helmets and Cortana's guidance ensuring that they could circumvent the larger parties while taking out the smaller ones stealthily. Still though, as the two Spartan teams moved on, there was an uneasiness in the air. It became all the more obvious when they entered a large room that was roughly two stories tall. Soaring columns rose toward a darkened ceiling. A large walkway also served as a balcony that overlooked a decent sized and brilliantly lit plaza where a number of Wraith vehicles and crates were located. A number of doors also branched off in different directions. If it wasn't for the map of the supercarrier, it was quite possible that the Spartans would have gotten lost. The room unfortunately, also happened to be filled with a large number of Covenant forces who were drawn to the sound of the opening door and consequently saw the five Spartans in the doorway.

A firefight instantly broke out as the Elites quickly rallied the Grunts and Jackals within the room. The Spartans instantly sprinted toward cover, lobbing grenades along the way which either scattered or killed a number of Covenant. Jorge, being the large, heavy, machine gun totting, Spartan that he was, preferred to lumber over to cover while simultaneously unleashing a literal bullet-storm upon the Covenant forces. Grunts and Jackals fell in heaps and a few Elites got caught by the machine gun. Whether those that got away were wounded or simply lost their shielding was questionable in this madness but the two Elites who didn't escape the fire ended up becoming Swiss cheese. Chief saw Six disappear for a moment before reappearing seconds later behind an Elite which promptly got stabbed in the neck while a nearby Jackal with its back to the now dead Elite was shot at from behind. Six disappeared again before appearing behind some cover whereupon the cycle would repeat with him cloaking and killing any Covies that were in range before de-cloaking behind another barrier. While it became obvious that the Spartans were winning, as the fight continued it seemed that the sounds of battle had attracted attention for a small number of Grunts and Jackals appeared from several other hallways although they didn't compare to the twin Hunters that lumbered in from the opposite side of the room. The rumbling ground had been the first indication of their presence but it was the sound of the charging plasma guns on their wrists that truly alerted the Spartans and it was only a split second decision to jump somewhere else that save Noble Six as the cover he used was instantly melted to slag. Jorge attempted to take fire by aiming his machine gun on the walking pair of worms, but they simply hid behind their shields, the bullets ricocheting off in various directions. Jorge was forced to hide when the bullets started flying back at him as a result.

Chief watched as the Hunters aimed where Jorge and some of the other Spartans were. They all escaped but it was always a close call with the remaining Covenant forces firing on them. In fact, one Hunter managed to aim at the spot where Six was hiding, which was actually behind a parked Wraith. Six jumped out just as the Hunter fired his plasma cannon, obliterating the Wraith in a shower of green fire. Despite this deadly explosion, which killed several Covenant members close by that hadn't been behind any shields, Six had still survived by jumping through the air and essentially riding the shock wave till he landed on the Hunter who shot him. The alien gestalt instantly began scrambling to get the Spartan off him but Six was simply too small, too fast, and the Hunter did have both a cannon and shield for hands so that didn't help much. Either way, it was too late for the doomed creature as Six stuck a grenade in it before leaping off and running for cover. Several seconds later, the grenade exploded, making it rain both worms and orange goo everywhere while the newly made corpse, now lacking a torso, fell onto its back. Naturally, this didn't sit well with the other Hunter who proceeded to go on a rampage by smacking the other Spartans down with his shield, something that didn't help much when it accidently crushed its own allies underfoot. Whether the Hunter cared that he was killing its own allies was another question but at this point, Chief was more focused on dodging the incredibly large beam of death the Hunter proceeded to fire at him. Chief rolled away from the burning plasma, scooping up some unused plasma grenades that had fallen to the ground. Armed with three of the grenades, he weaved around obstacles and living Covies that provided cover while shooting at the Hunter. The hulking gestalt turned toward him and attempted to melt him but consistently missed every shot, taking out its own people in the process. Meanwhile, Jorge began to see what Chief had in mind and aimed his minigun at the Hunter's back. The storm of bullets tore into the creature's armor, stripping it piece by piece until the whole thing was revealed. The Hunter turned back around to fire on Jorge and left itself open for Chief who promptly got close and stuck two live plasma grenades onto its back. The burning sensation, glowing light, and whirring sound alerted the living tank to the danger but it was too late. Two mini suns ignited and promptly ripped, burned, and melted the Hunter's back till nothing was left. The force of the explosion threw the Hunter into a nearby column, which bent under the weight, and collapsed to the ground where it finally went still.

"You okay?" Chief asked Noble Six when he looked at him. Six's suit was slightly burned near his back from where he missed the Wraith explosion.

"Just a scratch. Nothing I can't handle." Six replied.

With the threat now gone, the team of Spartans finally secured the room they were in. Chief waited as Cortana looked through the map of the ship's interior once more to try and find the correct route to their destinations. Seconds later, two waypoints popped up on his HUD and Cortana's voice echoed through the comms.

"Alright Noble-2, you will go left and down. The weapons control will be on a lower level nearby. Blue-1, your target is straight ahead. Be careful though, I'm getting readings of increased traffic between here and your targets. You will have to be more quiet when you're on the move."

"Roger Cortana." Chief responded before turning to the two other Spartans who came with him. "Let us know when you reach outside your destination." Noble Six nodded in understanding before turning around toward his door. Jorge stayed behind for a second and looked at Chief.

"It's good to see you again guys."

"You too Jorge." Kelly replied. Then the towering Hungarian Spartan was off, leaving the other three alone in the room.

Chief looked at the other members of his team before saying, "Let's move out." And with that, Blue-1 left the room. As they left however, Cortana popped up in his radio.

"Well, he is sure interesting."

"What?" was Chief's reply.

"Six of course. I may have read his file once I heard he was on this mission but seeing him in action. It's almost like watching you. A hyper-lethal vector." Cortana explained.

Chief felt a slight frown form on his face, not from frustration or anything else, but rather from some sense of exasperation, wonder, and curiosity. When he read up on the mission, he didn't know what to think of Noble Team. In fact, most of the Spartan IIs didn't know how to feel when they heard about the Spartan III Program. He remembered the moment with the crystal clarity only a Spartan could remember.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **0600 Hours, August 2nd, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Reach FLEETCOM Military Complex, Highland Mountains, Viery Territory, Reach, Epsilon Eridani System**

 _The large, secure amphitheater slowly filled with those Spartan IIs that remained along with the necessary military and civilian personnel involved. Chief looked around the room where his life as a Spartan began. Looking at all of his siblings that had been able to come back home, he was slightly saddened by what he saw though he didn't allow it to show on his face. There were now a little over two dozen Spartans remaining in the briefing room beside him. Ever since the augmentations and the declaration of war, the number of Spartans had slowly dwindled in size. A few had been able to come back into the fold due to the medical technologies gained from the Citadel Council but it hardly offset the losses. While the deaths of the Spartans IIs had been rare and spread out over the years, it didn't change the fact that with every loss, Chief lost another member of his family, another brother or sister whom he had trained with as a child. Their deaths, no matter how noble a sacrifice, were personal failures to him and a greater victory for the Covenant and now their sacrifices seemed to have been in vain. The news that the Covenant had just recently discovered Reach had hit home, both figuratively and literally in this case and shook his confidence ever so slightly. He hoped that this meeting was going to explain what was going to happen now even as he and the other Spartans remained standing. Dr. Halsey appeared soon afterwards followed by a Salarian. The Salarian was an unknown to Chief but if he was with Halsey, than she must have her reasons. As the remaining Spartan IIs filed into the room, Halsey reached the podium in the center of the stage. The Spartans remained standing as she looked over all of them. Her eye rested on John for a split second longer than the others and a smile crossed her face._

" _At ease Spartans and take a seat." The entire room sat down as one in preparation for Halsey's presentation. "Considering the circumstances, I won't try to take much of your time for I know you are needed. As you are all undoubtedly aware, the Covenant have found Reach." A number of Spartans unconsciously squirmed at this though only their fellow Spartans would have been able to tell. For Chief, the news manifested as a chill down his spine that he ruthlessly suppressed. But the thought of Reach, his homeworld, burning from Covenant plasma, made the chill difficult to shake off. The memory of Jericho VII's glassing passed through his mind for a short second before he summoned the willpower to banish it altogether and focus on the doctor.._

" _As of yesterday, a number of sites across the Viery Territory have come under attack including ONI Sword Base. We aren't sure how yet or how large their numbers are, only that they have established a foothold somewhere in the territory that is currently being scouted." Halsey continued before motioning to the Salarian who stepped forward. "This is Professor Mordin Solus of the STG and he is going to explain to you everything you will need to know so far."_

" _Greetings Spartans." The Salarian spoke rapidly in the manner common to his kind. "As Dr. Halsey has stated, Covenant forces have created a landing zone most likely in the region of the Viery Territory labeled Ütközet. Numbers are unknown at this moment but due to the number of assaults against military installations, kiva settlements, communication outposts, supply depots, etc., numbers are expected to be in the hundreds of thousands if not millions. Hypothesis is that it is most likely a scout force setting up a beachhead for the main invasion but it is a dangerous threat non the less. Due to similar actions in the past, Covenant fleet is expected to number in the dozens and will contain at least a number of corvettes, battlecruisers, and heavy cruisers. However for possible necessity, fleet may, I repeat MAY, also contain one CSO-class supercarrier." The Salarian's ramblings finally came to a halt but it was the last sentence and the picture of said supercarrier on the board behind the two scientists that caught the Spartans' attention. While he felt a measure of shock, Chief instantly begin to figure out what the professors were catching on to though he waited for either scientist to confirm it._

 _Halsey continued where Mordin left off. "For those of you not familiar with the plans regarding Operation: Red Flag, we will need this ship to conduct a future raid on the Prophet's homeworld, capture a living Prophet, and use him or her in an attempt to end the war; if said ship does exist of course. There are no guarantees yet that such a ship has been spotted despite the probability of such. Until such news reaches us, each of you will be split into different teams and be sent around the planet to help in any situations as necessary with a few exceptions who will stay behind as a precaution. The moment we gain official confirmation of this supercarrier's existence, a specially picked team of Spartan IIs and IIIs will move in to capture the ship." The Spartans were nodding their heads in agreement for a second before the full force of the words hit them. For the first time in a long time, Chief felt his entire thought process derail and crash like the metaphorical train upon hearing the last few words Halsey said._

' _Spartan IIIs?'_

 _Chief's hand shot up quickly as soon as his mind processed the words. Halsey's eyes rested upon him and gave a small smile at the sight of it. "Yes, John." She said._

" _You said Spartan IIIs ma'am?" Chief asked respectfully._

" _Yes I did. Ever since the success with your class, I have been attempting to establish a second class of Spartan IIs. But with the limitations on the Spartan II Program, the cost of the training and equipment, and the effects this war is having on potential recruits, ONI had decided to try a more cost effective solution by creating a Spartan III Program. Now while its members may not be the same as all of you, either physically or mentally, they have proven themselves to be Spartans in every way possible and it has been decided to merge the two programs together. Any and all information will be on your tablets in front of you so that you can catch up on everything that is happening so far. I hope that all of you don't have any issues with this." Halsey answered with a slight glimmer in her eyes._

 _Grabbing the tablet in front of him, Chief felt himself agreeing and judging from the other Spartans in the room, he wasn't the only one. For years now, the number of available Spartans had been growing smaller and deep down, Chief feared that Reach would become a mass grave dedicated to every Spartan in the UNSC when the Covenant arrived. At the same time, he had come to believe that they had always been the best Humanity had to offer, one of the few groups that actually helped Humanity stand a chance. Now with just a few simple words, his entire worldview had changed as he skimmed through the records in front of him. His family had grown in size, and by quite a lot it looked like. At the same time, he felt a spark of anger that ONI didn't think they were good enough to continue with and decided to back up a third program. The thought was ruthlessly crushed a second later as John looked more thoroughly through the tablet's contents with quick efficiency. The Spartan IIIs may have had toned down augmentations, but they were the same augmentations the IIs had before them plus a few others. Not only that, but they all worked a hundred percent. The IIs augmentations had been rather dangerous by comparison. Fifty-six percent of the Spartan II class got washed out in the process. The IIIs didn't have that problem compared to them. There were even several hundred of them where the IIs barely had over three dozen members to start with. On paper, they were Spartans through and through and they didn't deserve his ire. What ticked Chief off however was the way they were apparently being used though as cannon fodder. Most of the missions they were sent on ended up with over ninety percent casualties even when they succeeded. He nearly broke the tablet in half when he came across that part._

 _After taking a small sigh to relax himself, John flipped through the dossiers on the Spartan IIIs when his eye came upon Noble Team. Their records caught his attention and after a bit of reading, he found himself slightly impressed. Carter sounded like a good leader. Kat was experienced in tech, both human and alien. Linda would probably like to have a sniping competition with Jun based on his stats at some point. Emile seemed to be a hot-head with a love for close combat. He would need to be watched. Jorge was a surprise considering he was a Spartan II though John was glad to see he was doing fine with such a team. What really got his attention was the info regarding Spartan-B312. Most of it was blacked out and what little he could read suggested the Spartan III was mainly a lone wolf, both on the battlefield and personality-wise. He was a natural that had made entire militia groups disappear by himself and he seemingly possessed an odd streak of luck that made him get out of sticky situations. Summing up, the dossier said in no uncertain terms that Six was hyper-lethal and could very well match Chief himself, although that was based on the info alone and nothing else so Chief preferred to hold off on that until he saw the Spartan III in action._

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **Back on the Long Night of Solace with Blue-1**

The memory came back easily and frankly Chief had been interested by what he saw. Noble Six appeared to be everything the dossier said he had been. Quiet, efficient, and ruthless in taking down his enemies. Definitely worthy of the label "hyper-lethal vector". In short, the Master Chief was becoming more impressed by what he saw of Noble Six. Had the man been born around 2511 like most of the Spartan IIs had been, he might have had a chance joining the Spartan II Program. But now was not the time to consider the man. Several times now, Blue-1 had come across several other checkpoints filled with enemies who were set upon with as much stealth as possible and killed with no mercy. When their enemies couldn't be taken down by stealth, they proceeded to suffer from a large number of bullets to the head courtesy of their silenced weapons. Only once did they have to hid in a deep alcove to avoid a pair of Hunters patrolling the halls like silent guard dogs. The closer they got to the bridge, the more traffic there was and the greater the danger. But eventually, their patience and stealth was rewarded when they reached the doors that led to the bridge of the supercarrier. So far everything had gone to plan, they just had to check in with the other team.

"Noble-1, this is Blue-1. Come in." The Chief radioed. A few seconds passed with no sound save the nearly inaudible radio static before a new voice came in.

" _Blue-1, this is Noble-1."_ Carter's voice came in strong and clear.

"Blue-1 is in position to begin our assault on the bridge of the ship. What's your position?" Chief asked quickly while keeping an eye out for any unwelcome guests.

" _We're almost in position on our side. Will be ready in less than a minute. Let you know then sir."_ Carter answered before the radio fell silent. Chief felt his mouth twist downwards a little but not by much. Noble-1 was almost in position and once they were, they would all surprise and overwhelm the crew within their respective rooms. While a lot can happen in a few seconds, with the way things were going so far, it was likely that it should all work out. The key word of course being should. Nothing was ever that easy these days unfortunately.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **Terminal connection between the** _ **Ardent Prayer**_ **and the** _ **Long Night of Solace**_ **with Red Team at the same time.**

"Well this is boring." Alice-130 of Red Team pointed out while looking over her gun. As of yet, nothing of interest had occurred since they split up and Cortana had been able to set up an automatic contact with the bridge of the supercarrier to ensure that no unwelcome parties boarded the _Ardent Prayer._ "I thought I would be fighting my way through this ship. Not staying behind to guard the escape route."

"You would be the only one who could find any fun in blasting aliens. Besides it's not like it's a competition." Vinh-030 said before Douglas-042 added, "That you were winning at anyway."  
Alice playfully punched her teammate in the shoulder for the remark before going back to her gun while Douglas chuckled in good humor.

"You think the others are doing fine? Shouldn't some of us have gone with them? " Isaac-039 asked.

"It's alright." Jerome-092 and the leader of Red Team stated with absolute confidence. "If they needed our help they would have contacted us at any point in the last hour or so. Besides we just received word a few minutes ago that they were close to their respective targets. Everything is going fine." Still even Jerome couldn't help but twitch in nervousness. As a Spartan, he had been trained to be completely calm and he knew that Blue and Noble Teams could take care of themselves without them. However his training and conditioning as a Spartan-II left him feeling conflicted between taking direct action against the Covenant forces aboard and staying in position. It was only because of Chief's order that he was willing to stay where he was at all. So he and his team stayed where they were and that was that. Or it would have been if things if the universe had been kinder. At that moment, Jerome heard a beep coming from his HUD. When he looked he saw an approaching dot on the radar. The strange thing was that it was neither green or red, just yellow which was something that only happened around those who weren't allies or enemies and therefore should not be happening here.

"Guys we got a contact." He radioed quietly. The others stepped up quickly and snuck beside him as he led the way around the hallway. The dot on his radar had stopped outside the hallway as Red Team slowly got closer to the doorway. The doors parted and to everybody's surprise, inside was a single Jackal dressed as a minor officer looking down on what was equivalent to a clipboard that had both the necessary supplies and illegal contraband listed on it. Thanks to their translators, Red Team heard the Jackal began to talk about black market dealing involving what sounded like high grade fertility medication before looking up and stalling mid-sentence. The state of the situation was both highly unexpected and a touch comedic as the Spartans that they had literally stopped in the process of trying to shoot the alien bird. It would have been funny if reality hadn't quickly set in when the Jackal looked to his left and the Spartan's eyes followed to see a control panel. On said control panel was a small number of buttons to help with stuff with the refueling if necessary. One of these buttons sounded a general alert however and it was that button that the Jackal attempted to leap toward in fearful desperation. He never made it as the Spartans promptly filled the poor dealer with lead but his clipboard carried on with its momentum and hit the alarm button before the Spartans could do anything to stop it. Red lights began filling the hallway and a siren began to sound out.

Jerome could only think of one thing as he radioed Chief.

' _Crap.'_

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **Aboard the Bridge of** _ **Long Night of Solace**_

Rho 'Barutamee was busy going over the news he received over the computers from both the _Ardent Prayer_ and ground forces on the planet below. So far, the humans and their alien allies were making things rather difficult.

He was impressed with their defiance.

He was angry but he was still impressed.

He didn't have any qualms about killing everybody on the planet and he would have simply been done with it if it wasn't for two reasons. One, the large amount of defenses in place which made attacking impossible without severe casualties and two, the Forerunner artifacts he knew were on the planet below. His Luminary had detected artifacts on this world and he had been the first to arrive. He hoped to use these artifacts to find the fabled Forerunner world of Maethrillian. It was these reasons that were stopping him from glassing this world and everyone on it. He dare not commit to such an action and risk either the destruction of the relics or the wrath of the Hierarchs. So he was stuck here meditating on the situation below.

And his meditation was suddenly interrupted by the sound of an alarm going off.

' _Now what?'_ he thought as he began to stand up and look over the console in front of him. Barely a second passed as he looked over the console and thought of what could be the problem. The alarm came from the connection between his ship and the _Ardent Prayer_. But why would anybody send an alarm from there. It was safe around the ship since there was no enemy in sight and there was no technical issue on the screen. Everything was going well so there should have been no problems requiring an alarm.

' _Unless…'_ He didn't finish the thought as reality decided to answer the question that had only begun to form in his head when the doors to the bridge opened and three demons stepped through gunning down his soldiers.

Rho 'Barutamee was no longer impressed or angry anymore.

He was pissed.

At himself. At his crew. At the members of the _Ardent Prayer_ who were likely dead now at the hands of the demons. At the whole state of things and the gods who allowed it to occur in the first place. He punched a button on his chair, pulled out both his plasma rifle and his energy sword and roared in defiance all the while as he ordered his bridge crew to attack. Plasma and bullets flew with greater frequency but despite their many attempts to kill the intruders, the Spartans nimbly dodged the plasma fire while killing off many more of the Elites. Rho only grew angrier with each Sangheili that died before him. At some point reason fled his mind when his plasma rifle overheated in his hand, forcing him to toss it at the demons before leaping toward them with his sword hand outstretched and his purple cloak flying behind him.

It was all for naught when one of the demons leaped forward toward him, punched him in several areas to disorient him several times, grabbed his sword arm and twisted it behind his back before leveling a pistol at his head. Rho barely saw it in his field of vision before it fired twice and everything went black.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **Back to Blue-1**

The moment the alarms began to sound, Chief knew something was off. Jerome's radio call a second later confirmed his anxieties.

"All teams go." He ordered before he and the other members of Blue-1 burst into the ship's bridge. The alarms had alerted the bridge crew something was wrong so they were getting prepared for anything. They just weren't expecting a small team of Spartans to burst onto the bridge. Bullets took out a good number of personnel but the Elites on board were alert now and as soon as the shock passed, they took out their own weapons and fired back. The Elite captain had charged him when the weapon overheated. The officer threw it at his head and recklessly charged at him with a sword which he quickly twisted behind his back with one hand while using the other hand to shoot him point blank. The Elite quickly collapsed in his grip though Chief grabbed hold of the back of his harness and used him as a meat shield against the remainder of the Elite's fire who peppered their former commander with plasma, trapping Chief in the process. Despite Chief's blatant attack on the Elite admiral, however much it angered the remaining aliens on the bridge, it had one important effect.

Nobody was paying attention to the other two Spartans in the doorway.

James and Kelly jumped into the room attacking the other aliens now that they weren't stuck behind cover. The remaining Elites realized their mistake too late to do anything about the pair that now gunned them down easily. Finally realizing their position, one of the Elites attempted to run to a nearby console. Chief shot the Elite's leg out from under him before peppering his torso with holes. However this caused the Elite to tumble right onto the console he had been heading toward and no sooner had the dead Elite's body hit the console than an alarm began to blare out. The remaining Elites rushed out as well but James and Kelly took care of them with little issue.

"Chief, get me into the console now." Cortana commanded. Chief did as he was told, slipping out the chip in his helmet containing the AI and holding it to the console. The blue light inside disappeared before reappearing in the console itself. Cortana followed a second after looking pensive.

"Chief, we have a problem."

" _Chief, this is Noble-2. We captured the comm room and cut off any communications with between the ship and the outside world but somehow a signal is still getting through."_ Jorge radioed in.

"They have already activated an inbuilt alarm system." Cortana answered in response. "I'm attempting to disconnect both but they are already getting word to the other soldiers on board. We only have a few minutes till they are upon us."

Chief instantly radioed everyone "All teams, get to safe zones and seal your doors. Cortana vent the atmosphere in the rest of the ship and send a message to the UNSC. Tell them we need backup." Cortana nodded before disappearing in a flash. While she figuratively tore apart the mainframe from cyberspace trying to track the hardline that alerted the Covenant. The Spartans moved into the rooms they captured and sealed the doors before barricading them with whatever they had on hand, usually with the bodies of the dead Covies they killed. They were barely just in time as the sounds of banging filled the bridge from the direction of the door. A few dents appeared here and there as something seemed to bash itself against the doors.

"Cortana." Chief said with a hint of concern in his voice.

"I need more time." Cortana told him. The door to the bridge warped in place before it burst out toward the bridge and out came a pair of Hunters and a gaggle of Covies quickly followed behind. Plasma, bullets, and grenades quickly filled the bridge as the three Spartans moved and weaved in between the various barricades that could protect them and the enemies that threatened to kill them. The Hunters fired at the Spartans who promptly dodged their blasts, one of which hit a nearby console.

"Hey, watch it!" Cortana's voice echoed in their helmets. "I'm going to need some of these consoles if you want me to work." John winced slightly at that. This would make it slightly more difficult if he wanted to beat these aliens but at the very least it was only the two Hunters he and the others needed to worry about now. The rest of the Covenant forces were just so much fodder at the this point considering how many already died.

The thought was instantly rewarded with the sight of a Grunt flying into the head, so to speak, of one of the Hunters who promptly turned around to be greeted with James' fist. The Spartan's arm disappeared into the area where the face would usually be only to be pulled back seconds later as James jumped off. Another second later, the Hunter's head began to glow blue before violently exploding in a ball of plasma and electricity. The second and still living Hunter, instantly went berserk and tried to smash James under its shield for the murder of its twin.

"Cortana."

"Right hold on, it's going to get a little windy in here." And just a moment after she finished that sentence, Chief began to feel a slight pull that felt like it was growing stronger. It only took another second to magnetize his armor to the floor before he felt the full force of the atmosphere being ripped out of the room and into the void. Gravity ceased and the bodies of the dead began to rise from the floor and gain a frost covering while the blood began to freeze into little multi-colored globes as the temperature swiftly dropped. As for the living, it was rather confounding. The more exposed Covies like the Grunts and Jackals began to suffocate without oxygen and while a number of Elites did as well, a remaining few had been quick and smart enough to add facial masks to their suits. James remained trapped, holding up the Hunter's shield with both hands to prevent being crushed yet the Hunter's other limb / cannon was already rising up to fire when the oxygen and gravity all disappeared. The result would have been hilariously to somebody as the gestalt of worms suddenly found themselves floating off the floor while James managed to push off the shield.

Kelly sensed an opportunity as the Hunter spasmed around in space, either in the throes of death or just to find ground to stand on. With the reflexes brought on by Spartan training in zero-g environments, Kelly jumped from her position nearby and spun through the air till she hit the Hunter's center of mass with the back of her outstretched leg. The amount of force put into the spinning kick forced the flying / dying Hunter into the remaining Covie forces that happened to be behind it and were focused on Chief. Then the Hunter with its new payload proceeded to fly out the doorway and into a wall down the hall, crushing everyone stuck to its back. It was quickly followed by its dead brother's body as the three Spartans pulled it up and kicked it. The dead Hunter slammed into the Covie body pile and nothing in the pile moved again.

"Cortana?" Chief asked.

"Hold on Chief." The AI replied quickly before looking through the sea of data. The cameras and life sign detectors helped her to see what was going on throughout the ship and what she saw was the Covenant forces dying bit by bit. A rare few were able to get into rooms she couldn't reach but they were small in number and she could lock the halls around them and limit their movements. The rest were collapsing to their feet as the blood froze and boiled in their veins while their lungs collapsed from the lack of air and pressure. A few minutes passed before the last Covenant alien fell to the floor and stopped moving permanently. Cortana waited an extra minute to be sure all the aliens were dead and to ensure the locked doors stayed locked before answering back.

"Okay, Chief. The majority of the forces aboard are dead and the remnants are locked into various rooms across the ship. They shouldn't be a problem for now so I'll began bringing back artificial gravity and atmosphere." Both began coming back as she finished the sentence but with the return of air and gravity came the return of sounds. One sound that filled Chief's ears was a beeping coming from the console. A soft red light turned on and off with every beep and in Chief's mind that could only mean one thing.

"Cortana, did you turn off the alarm? Chief said as the memory of what she said earlier returned. There was a short quiet moment, too long in Chief's opinion and when Cortana spoke up it confirmed his worst nightmare.

"I did Chief but it's too late. The alarm got out to the other ships in the fleet and I'm already picking up enemy ships coming our way. I've run the numbers and…we won't be able to keep them from escaping with word of the ship's capture."

"Can we escape?"

"Yes but it won't do us much good if even one ship escapes." Cortana said, with a bit finality in her voice. Chief could feel it himself caused he understood what it meant. It would mean the mission itself would be considered a failure. The Covenant would attempt to not let this ship fall into enemy hands and even if they couldn't destroy it, they would do everything to cripple or distract it before escaping to warn the Covenant altogether which meant Operation RED FLAG would fail before they even had a chance to get close to a Prophet. Chief still wouldn't let things go down before he was finished though.

"Cortana do you have control over all weapons batteries?" Chief asked. He soon got a feeling that the blue AI was smirking at him.

"Do you even have to ask." She wittily replied. Several terminals instantly began to glow as data flashed across the screens. Seconds later, streaks of plasma flew out of various positions across the Supercarrier and toward the approaching enemy ships. The Covenant fleet, which included one ORS-class heavy cruiser, two CCS-class battlecruisers, and at least five more corvettes like the _Ardent Prayer,_ fired back in response. The space between the ships filled with colorful explosions as some of the plasma torpedoes and lances hit their counterparts. The firepower of the _Long Night of Solace_ was certainly something compared to what the enemy had on hand. While compared to a human or council fleet, the Covenant forces could more easily shrug off any damage inflicted on them, the sheer size of the supercarrier dwarfed anything they had on hand. One corvette after another died under the plasma lances and torpedoes of the _Long Night of Solace_ and the three cruisers took a beating over time _._ But as the minutes ticked by, the commanders on two of the cruisers seemed to realize that their hopes of trying to stop the supercarrier had been hopeless and tried to run in different directions.

"Chief, two cruisers have broken off and are starting their slipspace engines. The third is heading straight at us."

"Is there anything you can do?"

"Targeting slipspace engine. Firing main cannons." Cortana voiced. The terminals showing as the beams from the ship cut through space toward the CCS battlecruiser that was trying to run. Its shields were already weakened from earlier and the fire from the supercarrier finally brought it down as the slipspace engine stalled out to prevent the ship from disintegrating.

"Cortana target the other battlecruiser." Chief said.

"Sure just give me…" Cortana stalled, her face scrunching up in confusion before morphing into fear and shock. "Brace for impact!" She yelled as the second CCS battlecruiser rammed itself into the _Long Night of Solace._ The shields widely fluctuated as fire and debris poured across it. In some places, the shields weakened enough to allow plasma and metal shards to score across the hull. Inside, most of the electricity went out for a while as a result with only the explosion lighting the interior parts of the vessel where there were windows. It lasted for a short while but when it finally ended, the _Long Night of Solace_ was whole, but damaged heavily on its front left side where a cloud of debris and leftover plasma remained of the ship. The same side that just so conveniently was now blind to the escape of the last remaining ORS heavy cruiser. On the supercarrier, the Spartan teams could only watch in mounting horror as the last enemy ship slipped by.

"Cortana." Chief called out.

"I'm sorry Chief but the explosion disoriented or damaged the sensors and weapons. By the time we move out of the cloud, they will already have too big a head-start." She said as the enemy ship moved further out despite the supercarrier beginning to catch up. A nebula of energy seemed to form ahead of the battle cruiser, "They are beginning to power their slipspace engine. We are too far out." Cortana said.

But just when it seemed too late, a flurry of missiles and cannon fire appeared out of nowhere and bombarded the ship. The shields, already weakened from the skirmish earlier failed totally under the bombardment and the cruiser's bottom and left sides either exploded or warped. Then a lucky shot hit the engine and the ship instantly tore apart as the combination of an exploding engine and a failing slipspace drive ripped the enemy battlecruiser to shreds. Not long after the fireball that was the last Covenant ship vanished, a new fleet of ships showed up.

"I'm getting a signal from the new fleet!" Cortana exclaimed.

" _To Spartan teams aboard the Covenant supercarrier, this is Admiral Desolas Arterius. We got word of the plan and thought you needed some help. Glad we came when we did."_ The voice from the recognizable fleet radioed.

"Believe us Admiral, we're glad you did. Our sensors and weapons are a little damaged. Would you be willing to lend us a hand in getting to friendly space?"

" _I'll be happy too. I'll also send some soldiers under my brother onto the supercarrier if that is alright."_

"Of course Admiral, we'll need some help taking out any stragglers left on board. You will also be happy to hear that we just took out the entire Covenant Fleet of Valiant Prudence. For the moment, the Epsilon Eridani System is free from Covenant forces."

" _That definitely is good news to hear. We'll begin grouping with the supercarrier to escort back to friendly space. Admiral Arterius out."_ The radio cut right after and Cortana's visuals appeared on Chief's visor.

"Well glad that is taken care of. We now have a ship capable of moving forward with Operation RED FLAG and another to fiddle around with." She sounded giddy at the prospects that both supercarrier and corvette.

"We still have enemy forces on the ground and in the ship." Chief pointed out. "They will need to be taken care of quickly before they become too problematic." Cortana merely began pouting in response.

" Yeah I know. Do you always have to kill the good mood you barbarian?" Her face twisted into a humorous smirk and Chief felt the corners of his mouth quirk in response.

"Only when we still have a job to do." He replied.

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **Right, well now that this is covered I'm going to start complaining now.**

 **GODFUCKINGDAMMITALLTOHELL!**

 **I'm sorry, I know you all been waiting patiently for this newest chapter and obviously this is proof I'm not dead yet. But frankly after the last chapter I published, which you all probably noticed was over a year ago, everything went down the drain. 2017 in general was the worst year of my life to date. On top of car troubles, laptop troubles, and attempting to find a job, I had to watch as two of my relatives died from cancer around the holidays. Naturally, I spiraled into a pretty deep depression which I could only halt from getting worse and not get better for a few months. When I finally got the will to live again, I tried to work on this chapter once more before realizing that the USB drive containing all the info got damaged, erasing months of work and forcing me to start over. In short you don't have to feel disappointed in me, I'm disappointed in myself as it were. If this chapter is subpar, blame 2017 for it. I don't like whining about my problems in life, and you probably don't want to hear it but honestly, I feel like I'm never going to get this done and it terrifies me that this might be the only bit of a legacy I'll leave behind if I were to die for some reason right now. So I try to do my work only for life or general apathy to rear its butt-ugly head again and drag me under. Just uuugggghhh.**

 **While this does sound depressing, this doesn't mean I want to quit at this point. I've already invested part of my life into it and I'll be damned if I don't have a good enough reason to stop. But you guys deserve better, so no more promises, no more deadlines, you will all get these chapters when I can put them out and not a moment before. More than that, I'm going to try to shorten them. Most of my chapters are currently between 18 and 22 pages long and I feel that this length is helping to cause as much problems as life in general. Don't know how it will work yet, I'm just going to try and be and do better. Because you all deserve better and I'll be the one to let you know when this is done, whether it's because it's finished or because I quit. That is the best promise you will ever get out of me. So onto the reviews.**

 **I like to thank all lot of people who left comments on my work. Considering the time I was gone, it did add up to a lot and I'm not going to try and list them all. Many of you may not realize until now but, reading what you guys sent to me is heartwarming. Hearing what you guys say on the comments makes me realize that you care about my work in some form or another and hearing from you is partly what keeps me going when life drags me down. So again, thanks for your comments and to those online friends who messaged me, thanks for your help and input. This chapter, for what it is worth, is dedicated to all of you. Thank you for both your support and your patience. While it is either late or early in your opinion, I would also like to wish you all a better Christmas and a better year than I had. Good luck and Godspeed.**


	11. Chapter 11: Not Going Down

Chapter 11: Not Going Down

" **Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present." – Marcus Aurelius**

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 **0000 Hours, August 8th, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Trial Court for the Tools of Conquest, Holy City of High Charity, Unknown Location**

Zo looked around him as he, the Prophet of Tolerance, and a trusted aide who worked for Tolerance, walked through his workplace. His position had allowed him to areas of the city that most wouldn't be free to walk through and it was because of this allowance that he was able to walk into the warehouse where his most frustrating project and absolutely favorite project existed. As he entered the building he saw it in the open. A beautiful circle of metal with several dozen glyphs of unknown origin and meaning carved into the inner ring while the outer ring contained several chevrons that glowed when the inner ring slid a glyph into place. Alongside the ring lay a device that obviously controlled it, causing the inner ring to spin whenever one of the glyphs on the device was pressed. It appeared as old as the Forerunner tech that Covenant members would occasionally stumble across and it had been found in a series of strange ruins on a planet that the Covenant called Heian. Next to the ring had been a language that appeared similar to the Forerunners own but didn't use the same type of pictographs or symbols the Forerunners' language had, though it did talk about the Forerunners themselves. The runes had been hard to translate, yet when they were (limited though the translation was), it was discovered that the ring had a name that the translator described as a "doorway to heaven". Naturally the Hierarchs became interested and placed Zo in charge of discovering its secrets. Sadly it seemed that the tech itself was beyond his ken and those of his fellow workers and scientists. The device that controlled the ring contained a large number of crystals which seemed to have different programs and failsafes built in to prevent incidents, glitches, or tampering but beyond that, Zo couldn't tell what the ring's main function was. He tried pressing the buttons to activate the ring but after large amount of time was wasted using different combinations, Zo gave up on trying to get something from random dialing and instead turned to the glyphs to try and understand their meaning. He went through every scrap of knowledge, history, and myth he could dig up from every race in the Covenant Empire, but the answers still alluded him since the glyphs meant nothing in any language or culture he read about. It was infuriating but it was also a challenge he came to love and was determined to find out someday. But not today as it were.

Zo's attention drifted from the ring he studied to the floor in front of it. Right in front of the device were three people, one of whom would have been killed had they been seen stepping foot in High Charity. The first one was Sig Raan who Zo remembered having dinner with a few nights ago. The other two were Jiralhanae of varying age and rank but seemed cautious and wary since their eyes constantly searched the room. The first Jiralhanae member had hair that was long and white with advanced age. His skin was wrinkled around his eyes but they still held a fire that burned brightly. His orange tattoos and armor identified him as Lydus, one of the oldest member amongst his species and the most reasonable by reputation. Seeing him was a shock, Zo had not thought the reasonable man would join with enemies of the Covenant. But the second Jiralhanae was not as much a surprise but still elicited a small amount of fear. He was the most dangerous member of the group here. Physically, he was a tall and stocky Jiralhanae with numerous scars across his body and white markings on his face. But what was more terrifying was his mindset. This Jiralhanae was the most wanted by the Covenant forces for a reason. He had gathered the most disparate fringe groups that wouldn't follow the Covenant, united them under a single banner, and with this force he had been able to keep the Covenant from using their full might to attack both the humans and the Citadel Council.

His name was Atriox and he was the leader of the Banished.

Zo restrained the urge to gulp. He was used to dealing with Sangheili. Their culture maybe different from the Jiralhanae but the two species were both physically impressive and could easily swat him aside like a fly. He just had to brush up on his manners regarding Jiralhanae culture and try not to anger anybody. He stepped forward carefully showing himself to be as non-threating as possible while trying to keep his head held high.

" _Act confident yet harmless. Don't give him any reason to be antagonistic."_ Zo thought as his eyes met the Jiralhanae leader.

"So, you're the San' Shyuum that has made my chief scientist so flustered lately." Atriox said with a sharp toothed smile that didn't reach his eyes. Said scientist was shifting her feet nervously.

"I wonder why a Prophet," Atriox used the human term for his species though Zo refused to rise to the bait. "particularly one under the direction of Truth as well as a former Hierarch, would choose to do this. To meet under the terms of his enemy." He twirled his hammer casually as if he were playing around with a toy. For all Zo knew, this was probably how he played around. He had to say the right words otherwise he was dead.

"Because, I don't want to become party to a genocide of innocents. I can't speak for everyone here, but I believe that it is our duty to help others, to show them the path to everlasting glory and ascension alongside our gods. For so long now, we have fought the humans and the Citadel Council and even when we win…" Zo paused and began pacing. "I've studied their works to understand them as have many of those above and under me. I followed the orders of the Hierarchs because I believed it was right at the time but things have gotten so confusing now. The Hierarchs have lumped the Citadel Council in with the humans as desecrators and heretics but we have found no Forerunner relics on their worlds so how can they be labeled as such. Why are we still fighting the humans when they have acted with both honor and bravery on many occasions. How long must this bloodshed continue until both sides have destroyed each other? Why must it continue?!" Zo paused again and realized he was starting to shout as he aired the dangerous questions that had been starting to plague him. As he turned around he noticed Tolerance looking at him with wide eyes while Atriox merely had an eyebrow raised.

Zo suddenly became tired and sighed as he began realizing where his actions were leading him. "When will it be enough?" He finally said with the tiredness of a being who just wanted an honest answer in life where his job usually taught him to lie. "I think the Hierarchs are hiding something. I didn't notice at first, then I didn't want to notice even when I knew. Now I can't turn away from the truth of what I'm seeing. Our own people once followed this war blindly but now they are starting to see the humans and their allies as peoples who have earned the right to be a part of this Covenant. But the Hierarchs aren't going to stop this war. They have had many opportunities to and they refused every single time and all the time we are fighting on the battlefield, they are moving pieces in the background." Zo finally turned to look at Atriox with a furor in his eyes that made Atriox raise his eyebrow higher. "They are hiding something and this secret may very well cause the end of our Covenant. I will not allow it to end like this nor will I allow it to continue."

"Careful prophet. It sounds like you are planning a coup." Atriox said, his grin becoming feral.

"If that is what it leads to then yes, I am." Zo said with finality daring anybody to challenge him otherwise. "You are the only one who has rebelled against the Covenant and with any success as well. I read what caused you to rebel. I saw the recordings. You lost many of your pack-mates in the battles you were a part of. But they weren't the original reason that led you to rebel were they, Viriathus was."

The next things he was going to say literally got stuck in his throat as soon as he said the words since Atriox proceeded to grab his throat and raise him to his level.

"You think bringing up the name of my brother will mean I'm willing to let you join us, then you would be sorely mistaken." Atriox growled as his fist clenched a little tighter.

"I…don't expect it…too." Zo said as he clawed at the Jiralhanae's grip. Atriox, perhaps a little curious of what Zo meant, loosened his grip on the San' Shyuum's larynx. "Your brother wrote that to follow the orders and laws of one's leader and government was to help provide order and peace; when and where it's needed. But to blindly obey them is to give oneself over to slavery and death. I do not want this for either myself and my people and you don't either." Zo took another shaky breath before continuing. "You are a pragmatic and brilliant being and we both know this is all for show." Atriox rose his eyebrow again in a questioning manner. "I may not have much power here. You could have easily killed me at any point earlier. But my death will only lead to unnecessary questions. You don't want that. But I'm the Secondary Administrator to the High Prophet of Truth himself. You wouldn't want to get rid of such a valuable resource and especially not when he is willing to work with you. So do we have a deal or will you kill me now?" Zo Resken gave the Jiralhanae leader the best defiant glare he could muster.

Atriox merely looked at the San' Shyuum dangling from his fist, his face calm and passive at first before a wide grin broke out. He laughed as he dropped the surprised Prophet of Clarity onto the floor and then gripped his sides as he continued laughing. It took a minute but when he stopped laughing he wiped a tear from his eye and looked at Zo with wide victorious smile. "So some of you still know what it means to be free and brave. I applaud you and welcome you to the Banished. However I want you to understand that if you betray me, I won't hesitate to kill you myself."

"You won't have that problem from me." Zo said.

"And your friends?" Atriox questioned as the group of Banished now looked toward Tolerance and his aide. Zo had to admit that he almost forgot about the both of them. Before he could answer, Tolerance stepped forward.

"I told Clarity that I would stand by him no matter what. I don't know if I can choose to join the Banished but I'll keep your secrets."

"Why should I trust you?" Atriox questioned.

"Because despite his position, Zo Resken is my friend and my confidant. I made a promise and I agree with many things he say. I just don't know if I can take that final step." Tolerance turned to Zo and said, "I don't think I'm brave enough to take the leap you did. All I can do is wish you luck and swear myself to secrecy. This I'll carry to my grave if necessary." Tolerance stated, his eyes shining with determination. Atriox was concerned but ultimately nodded his head in understanding. He could respect Tolerance's wish but he would still kill the San' Shyuum if he became a loose end.

"Well that is wonderful speech from the both of you but I'm afraid this can't continue." A voice began and when everyone turned to its source they saw Tolerance's aide standing away from them with an object in his hand.

"What did you do Arg?" Tolerance stated with a rising anger in his voice. "Tell me you didn't do what I think you did?" Zo felt that same anger pouring into his mind.

"I thought you said he could be trusted?" Zo turned to Tolerance.

"He has been my aide for years now! I vetted him personally to ensure he was loyal."

"And I was. Just not to you." The aide stated.

"Who then little San' Shyuum?" Atriox hefted his hammer and begin stalking over to the aide to kill him.

"Who do you think traitor." The aide smirked before something bright blocked Atriox's view and forced the hammer back. Years of training forced Atriox to shift his weapon downward and use the other hand to bring out his gun which he fired into the light. It temporarily dimmed as the target went down and when the light cleared, it revealed the figure of a Sangheili dressed in dark purple armor and armed with a bright red bloodblade. Atriox grimaced and growled in anger as he stared down at the dead corpse of the Sangheili.

"Silent Shadows." He spat with contempt. They were some of the most specialized members of the Covenant special ops, skilled in both assassination and extraction. There were few times, if any, where their members had ever failed a mission and where there was one, there were usually more.

Atriox backed up toward Lydus, Sig Raan, Clarity, and Tolerance, the two San' Shyuum had apparently brought their own weapons with them as a precaution. Wise but useless here. They were surrounded by roughly two dozen or so of the Silent Shadows and there was no way they could all survive.

"You know I had to admit watching you was admittedly one of the most boring jobs I have ever had to suffer through." The aide admitted as he stalked forward, his own arm now holding a plasma pistol that he had effectively concealed. "But to find not one, not two, but five high ranking traitors to the Covenant. I couldn't believe my own luck."

"Why would you do this Arg? What for reason could you betray me, betray us like this?" Zo asked with genuine confusion. "You were one Tolerance's most trusted aides, a good friend, and confidant."

"Why?" the aide scoffed, "I was never your friend in any way. My loyalty was to the Hierarchs first and foremost and I was never going to get anywhere serving a washed out former Hierarch. But with your capture, I'll be the one in power to do what is needed." The aide smirked before is face twisted into a scowl.

"So this is why you betrayed us. For personal glory and power all while blindly following the orders of three San' Shyuum who were corrupt enough to throw me out of power." Tolerance yelled.

"Obviously they are more honest than you or your colleagues!" the aide cried out in youthful anger. "You stood by and did nothing while your colleagues and their followers stripped me from my position. I lost everything before you stepped in and I still couldn't get it back. Now you even conspire with traitors to overthrow the Hierarchs and make peace with heretics. So I had to tell somebody about your actions and now you will suffer even worse than I did. May your souls never find peace on the Great Journey. Sangheili maim them if you must but leave them alive. They are to be delivered to the Hierarchs as intact as possible." The Silent Shadows began moving in toward the five Banished members. While they would fight to the best of their abilities, only the Jiralhanae would be able to put up a fight and one of them was simply too old to fight for long periods. They were screwed unless a miracle occurred.

And one did.

" _You will not touch any of them!"_ A voice suddenly echoed from nowhere. The Silent Shadows stopped and everybody began looking around in worry.

"Where are you?" the aide cried out, his eyes wide open in fear.

" _In the shadows."_ The voice replied before an emerald green blade of light appeared out of nowhere and protruding out of a Sangheili's torso before disappearing again. A second later, two Sangheili that were standing relatively close to each other ended up with a pair of emerald blades lopping of both their heads before the blades vanished and the Silent Shadows collapsed onto the dirt. After that, the room erupted into chaos.

Atriox charged at the nearest Shadow and put so much strength into the swing that the poor Sangheili was thrown through the air and into a wall, quite dead. Lydus took a similar approach but instead went for his Shadow's legs when the alien prepared to block his feint, tripped the Sangheili and then brought pulverized the Sangheili's chest into pulp with the hammer. The two San' Shyuum and the Kig-Yar in the middle of it all used their guns to begin mowing down any Shadows that tried to get to close to any of them. The San' Shyuum had each brought a pair of plasma pistols, the only weapons they were capable of hiding on their bodies. While Tolerance seemed to be having a minor panic attack trying to use the one he held in his hands to keep the Sangheili at bay, Zo was busy charging up both pistols and firing them at different Shadows coming at them. His shots were far more accurate and helped take down the Shadow's shields. Sig then used her naturally skills with the needle rifle she brought to headshot those unshielded Sangheili. Four of the Shadows saw their weaker foes and decided to charge at them then risk going against the creature. As they closed in, Zo fired off two plasma bolts that took down a pair of Shadow's shields. Sig followed up with two precise head shots while a third Shadow got caught when one of his dead compatriots was whacked at him by Lydus like a toy. Under other circumstances he would have lived had he not been moving toward Atriox who stepped out of the way of the flying pair of Sangheili and then brought his hammer down on them in midflight. While the Jiralhanae were playing whack-a-Sangheili however, the fourth Shadow had his shields taken down but both Zo and Sig found themselves weaponless at the time. Tolerance saw his companion's falling back and proceeded to turn toward the Shadow and quickly fire several bursts of plasma. All of them hit and the last struck the Sangheili's face, toppling him just a foot in front of the trio.

Despite the obvious threat of the five rebel Covenant gunning them down (or hammering them in the case of the Jiralhanae pair), the Shadows were far more focused on the strange alien that used its emerald blades to cut a swathe through them. They saw him as the greater threat and knew that he needed to be interrogated and studied before they killed him. But despite the Shadows best attempts, and they were amongst the best trained in Covenant special ops, the creature proceeded to block and parry every strike that came against him while killing Sangheili in ones and twos at a faster rate than the five rebels did. Four Shadows attempted to catch him using their swords. When the alien blocked two of them with his blades, the other two went at him. But instead of wounding or capturing him, the creature instead threw out his hands and a strange cloud of energy seemed to knock the four Shadows back. The creature than disappeared in a dark mist which seemed to shroud him from sight before it too vanished. Of course it didn't last long as a second later, the dark mist suddenly appeared again from somewhere else and the alien jumped out of it and dismembered two of the Sangheili before impaling a third. Suffice to say, alone the five rebels would have killed some of the Shadows before being apprehended, but they still would have been apprehended and wounded to boot. With this strange alien on their side however, the rebels had succeeded in killing the remaining Shadows that weren't busy with the creature. It all finally ended when the shadowed alien proceeded to duck under the last two Sangheili, slice their energy swords at the hilt, and then stab into their torsos. The Sangheili both looked up at this strange creature before ultimately succumbing to their wounds and dropping to the floor.

The treacherous aide had been standing far enough away on the sidelines watching the battle. He saw as the creature took out about half of the Shadows on his own and didn't even get wounded during the process. His mind then supplied the question, if such a creature could fight and kill twelve Sangheili and not get wounded in the process, would a plasma pistol be different. The most likely answer was no and with that line of thought now finished, the former aide dropped his weapon and dashed as fast as his legs could carry him out the nearest door. The attempt was both hilarious and pathetic in how it went in that the poor aide didn't manage to get even close to an exit in the first place and even if he did there would have been no way to stop what would have happened next. The strange alien that helped the rebels had simply lifted up his arm toward the fleeing aide and summoned that same cloud of energy he had used to fight the Silent Shadows. A second later, the former aide was now stuck in midair attempting to make a run for it still even when it was obvious that he would not be able to get any traction to escape in the first place. The alien then began pulling his arm toward him and in response, the aide come flying back toward the center of the room, his heels dragging along the ground as he tried to grab anything to stop moving backwards but to no avail. When his body finally stopped flying backwards, it lifted the aide up enough to the point where his feet didn't touch the ground. The aide merely began struggling all the more as the laws of gravity disavowed him and left him truly floating in the air. His body turned around slowly and when it finally finished doing so, the aide was treated to the terrifying sight of the alien creature staring up at him with burning green eyes. The others didn't know if it was the creature who caused what happened next but simply put, the aide screamed and then fainted from fright.

" _I don't think so."_ The creature's voice echoed and the aide instantly woke up, scared out of his mind. _"You will give me everything I need to know."_ The alien said matter of fact. The aide merely tried and failed to look as angry or as intimidating as possible.

"I will tell you nothing." He stated with all the defiance he could muster.

" _I know you won't say a word against your masters but I don't have to make you talk."_ The creature than put his large, Sangheili-like hands on the San' Shyuum's neck and for a moment things were calm. Than the aide began to scream and it sounded like the scream of a being that was being driven mad with horror mixed with a prey caught by a predator.

"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" The aide screamed and it continued on for a minute before he went limp in the creature's grasp. When he finally looked up again, his voice was strained and broken. His face empty and haunted. "What are you?" He whispered.

" _What I am won't matter to you now. I can only hope to balance the scales."_ The creature said cryptically before snapping the aide's neck swiftly. It happened so fast that Zo didn't know when it happened in fact. One minute the aide was alive, barely by his standards, and the next he was dead. The creature merely dropped his body and turned around to find the two Jiralhanae, two San' Shyuum, and one Kig-Yar all aiming their weapons at him. _"Your weapons will not be necessary."_ It stated bluntly before moving his hand, the five Covenant members now without weapons which had been ripped gently out of their hands. Now that the alien was fully turned toward them and under the light, the others could get a fairly good look at it. The creature's body looked similarly like a Sangheili but the head had a more humanoid look to it. The eyes were closer together, there was no muzzle for its mouth, the lower jaw was elongated and filled with sharp teeth, and the creature appeared to have hair have some sort coming out of crest on top of his head. The armor was even odder in that it was practically nonexistent. There was a pair of pauldrons on the creature's shoulders, a pair of kneepads with greaves underneath, and a vambrace on each arm. The head was protected by a helmet that only covered the crest and forehead while leaving the face open. The rest of the body however was covered in strips of cloth and leather with a purple cloak and loincloth covering his torso. In short, the creature appeared to be every bit a hunter.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Zo stated never wavering an inch even as his heart threatened to jump into his throat.

" _I am Dark Prelate Zeratul of the Protoss."_ The now named alien stated. Zo saw that its jaw was not moving in response. _"And I am here for answers."_

"What answers?" Zo asked.

" _As I meditated one day, I came to hear the call of billions of innocents crying out in rage, sorrow, and fear before death overtook them. I followed these cries until I came to this area of space where I saw such devastation not seen since before my birth. I wished to understand how such a conflict could have happened and have studied both sides since. When I came to know what it was the Covenant wanted, I became determined to stop them and made my way here. Then I found you."_ Zeratul responded.

"Me? I don't understand." Zo replied.

" _You, Zo Resken, are arguably one of the few people in the whole Covenant to suspect what lies in the shadows. You seek answers for questions asked long ago and you hold no loyalty to the Prophets. You are perhaps the only person I can fully place my trust in for the task I'm about to give you."_

"No, just stop! I thank you for saving my life and those of my companions but I don't even know who you are or what you are fully capable of, let alone whose side you are truly on. I won't accept any tasks from a stranger even if they saved me. Now tell me why are you truly here and what did you do to that aide?"

" _I merely entered his mind and took the knowledge I needed, which was not much admittedly."_ Zeratul confessed.

"And what does that mean?" Zo said while trying to prevent his teeth from clenching. The only thing Zeratul did in response was lift the helmet over his head with one of his hands. Zo and the other's eyes widened in shock when it revealed the face underneath. What Zo had though were the Zeratul's lower jaws was actually a fixture in the helmet acting as a faceguard. The face underneath was clear as in there was no mouth or nose like any other alien being. It was completely smooth with only the eyes to break it up and that revelation plus the cryptic sentence from before brought up one terrifying thought that needed to be confirmed. "How did you talk to us?" Zo asked cautiously.

" _I spoke into your minds. Psionics is a gift my race possesses amongst which is the ability to speak and look into the minds of others."_ Zeratul answered calmly and this time, Zo realized that the voice he heard was indeed coming from his own head. He had thought he was actually hearing it the entire time. _"I apologize if you consider it an intrusion of privacy."_

"No, its fine as long as you don't go digging any further." Zo replied now shaking a little. He now understood why the aide was screaming. If Zeratul probed into him mind forcefully it must have caused a lot of pain. Far more than the aide probably ever experienced in life. Zo had no intention of going through that same pain.

" _I would not intend to if you were an ally."_

' _Wait did he just…'_ Zo thought.

" _Yes."_ Came the answer. Zo began glaring at the dark prelate. _"I understand that it is not in your nature to trust strangers but the fate of the galaxy will depend on your attempts to stop this crisis before it spins into catastrophe."_

"Please explain to me how?" Zo asked is patience was wearing thin and his paranoia about being found with the dead bodies was starting to soar despite his control.

" _The gods you worship were merely one in an alliance of six. Plague and war devastated them all and death came for the Forerunners in the end. In order to combat a terrible threat, they created an even worse weapon to end it. It is a weapon your Covenant seeks without knowing it's true purpose."_ Zeratul stated evenly. _"If this weapon is discovered, the Hierarchs will use it to destroy all life in this galaxy. All three keep a terrible secret and two already seek to displace an ally with a puppet. The secret they hold is the one that began this war and though its revelation will bring an end to your Covenant, it will save you all from the abyss the Hierarchs will throw everyone in if they succeed. The end of this war is approaching soon and it will be heralded by a coming flood. Now leave this place while you still can and quickly."_ Zeratul finished he placed his helmet upon his head and a cloud of darkness began to shield him.

"Wait! How would we stop this catastrophe?" Zo called out but it was too late as the mist disappeared, taking the dark prelate with it. _'Great, now I just have more questions.'_ He thought a little sourly. Still he got more than he thought today now he just needed to get to bed. He turned to find Atriox leading the others toward a secret door that he had never noticed in a corner of the room before.

"This way." He half shouted half whispered. Zo didn't brook any arguments and made his way over. He got inside while Atriox closed the door and locked the hatch. A moment later, they heard the sounds of people getting into the warehouse. The group didn't stay around for long as they wandered through the tunnels of High Charity. Atriox led the way with Zo following behind him, the two slightly ahead of the others. Tolerance was behind him, followed by Sig Raan, with Lydus bringing up the end. As they continued Atriox turned his head toward Zo and whispered, "Do you truly mean everything you say?"

"I do." Zo said sincerely. Atriox snorted at first before continuing.

"I don't deny that I hate this Covenant for what it did to me and my people. I admit that I hate you for what you represent. But I respect your decision and would gladly welcome any help you can give."

"Really. Just like that?" Zo asked.

"Don't get me wrong, I will still be watching over you one way or another. But you have done much to convince me and the way you talked with that _Protoss_ ," Atriox tested the word before moving on, "I don't believe that was something you planned for just like Tolerance's aide was something none of us considered. You want our help, you will get it."

"Then can I ask one thing from you?" Zo started

"What?"

"This business will get messy, we both know that. I don't want good people to suffer and die because of me. Just help me set up waystations, safe houses, and ships to take people out of here and I'll give you what info I can straight from the Hierarchs mouths. That is all I would ask from you."

"You make it sound small but it will be hard to get so many supplies and men in." Atriox pointed out.

"You got in." Zo rebutted to which the Jiralhanae scowled slightly but there was no real heat behind it. Eventually he just chuckled a bit. The group now continued to go down the hallway until they stopped before a door. Sig Raan then began handing out several devices that Zo instantly recognized as some form of communication devices. The Kig-Yar planned to skip over Tolerance before the older San' Shyuum walked forward and took the device from the Jiralhanae's hand.

"The Hierarchs got a spy in my ranks and then intended to execute me. I may not have the same power as I did before, but I still have influence and those three will learn what it means to deal with a former High Prophet." He stated with a venomous tone. Atriox merely gave him a raised eyebrow in response before nodding.

"These devices here will allow any of us to contact each other. The devices are separated from the main Covenant networks so they shouldn't be hacked unless they are directly taken from you so don't lose them. The device itself is protected by a security feature that only recognizes your DNA and voice patterns so set it up carefully. After that, you can activate it using two different signals. One will allow any of you to get in touch with any one of us after a few minutes. The second will essentially be a coded distress beacon that will alert us that you have been compromised. Did you understand all that?" Everyone nodded their heads. "Good." Sig Raan then took a step back.

Atriox stepped forward now and turned to all of them. "Alright, since all of you are still playing your roles in the Covenant, this is where I will leave you. Go to your homes and live your lives as if everything is normal. But be ready for any word from me as there may come a time when you may need to leave High Charity. The rest of us will try to help but understand this…that is not a guarantee. If you are captured, tortured to give up you secrets, and we can't get to you, best to kill yourself in some fashion. Good luck." And with that Atriox opened the pathway turned around and walked off in a different direction. The remaining four walked out of the tunnels to the outside world and eventually made it to an open area where they could get their bearings without being spotted. Having had enough for the night, the four split up and went off in different directions. Zo merely headed back to his home, locked the door behind him, went up to his bedroom and got dressed. The recent events had exhausted him thoroughly and it was now catching up with him. He was left with too many unanswered questions and his paranoia was only increasing. But it didn't matter at the moment because he passed out as soon as his head hit the pillows.

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 _It was a strange landscape he awoke to. It was strangely organic in a way that reminded Zo of what flesh would look like if it was filled with pulsating tumors and writhing tentacles but underneath were ruined floors and walls that looked like High Charity's own. There was a heavy smell of decay and rot in the air. There was also something else, a presence which made things feel heavy and slow like syrup but carried a malevolence that choked him. It was just all wrong in every way that mattered to Zo and he willed himself to be anywhere else but the land around him didn't change. He saw other beings around him, some twisted horribly, others familiar in look to beings he knew, and some were just alien to him. He instantly recognized what it was, the Parasite which warred with their gods. At this point he began clawing around him, calling out for help. But nobody came or listened and the disease only closed in around him._

 _The scene rapidly changed as he was forced him to look up into the sky. There were stars, ships, stations, wreckage, a moon or two, but what truly grabbed Zo's attention was the sight of a giant ring in the sky, with blues, greens, browns, and whites around the inside. Zo instantly knew what it was from the various stories he heard over his lifetime._

 _It was Halo and it was more beautiful than he ever thought._

 _As he watched, a great light began to grow in its center before one final light came from the bottom of the ring. It came to the center to join with the greater source of light there and then it shrank before Zo's eyes._

 _Then it went supernova._

 _The light expanded into a wave which began to encompass everything in sight. It swallowed the debris in the sky above and then it touched the ground and spread further. Zo watched as it came closer and closer but at a slow pace. The Parasite that came in contact with the light burned in holy fire. Zo realized that with Halo's activation, it was not only going to ascend them all but also destroy the Parasite itself. He threw out his arms ready to embrace the light itself but as he stepped forward, a hand pulled him back and he found himself facing a pair of glowing emerald eyes once more._

" _Look." Zeratul said while pointing one finger at the incoming light. Zo turned to see several uninfected aliens, Sangheili, Jiralhanae, and San' Shyuum amongst them step toward the light like he planned to. One of the Sangheili touched it and instantly began to scream madly, falling back in pain. Zo barely caught the sight of a hand missing parts of its digits in varying lengths. The Sangheili tripped over a rock behind it and fell backwards, landing on its ass. As the Sangheili laid down on the floor, the light began to consume the Sangheili's legs. The poor alien screamed even louder as Zo saw the alien's legs disintegrate before his eyes. The Sangheili's screams only grew louder and more frightening till the light reach his torso after which the alien stopped and dropped dead. The light only consumed his body and Zo briefly saw the flesh and muscles peel away to reveal bone before it too disintegrated into dust. As he watched, several other beings suffered the same fate and realized what was happening. The light was deadly to everyone and it was coming for him. He turned to Zeratul for help but found nobody or nothing there but a bunch of symbols scribbled onto a parchment floating in the wind toward him. Zo grabbed it and saw the symbols reorient themselves until they turned into symbols that he knew, the symbols on the ring. He looked up from the disintegrating parchment to see the ring and pedestal he studied some ways off in the distance._

" _Run." He heard Zeratul's voice say and he didn't argue. He ran even as he heard the death screams of those consumed by the parasite or killed by the light from the Halo. His heart was beating faster, his breath was becoming labored, and still the ring and pedestal seemed too far off. He happened to pass by a figure uncorrupted by the Parasite and welcoming the light with open arms and for a moment, it too the figure of Tolerance. Zo acted without thinking and grabbed Tolerance's arms. He saw another San' Shyuum nearby that looked strangely like a prelate named Tem'Bhetek along with his wife. Zo grabbed them too and continued running through the Parasite infested halls of High Charity, away from the light of Halo, and toward the ring. Despite it being physically impossible he began grabbing everybody who still remained uncorrupted nearby. Sangheili, Jiralhanae, Kig-Yar, San'Shyuum, even humans and Council aliens, he took their hands without a thought and began dragging them all behind him as he continued running for his life. The corrupted however he steered away from, their bodies twisted, their faces frozen in perpetual screams, and their voices sounding like the Hierarchs themselves trying to welcome him into damnation. He shut his ears against their lies and ran all the faster toward salvation._

 _Finally, the ring and pedestal stood before him, untouched and unmoving. He moved to the pedestal and began pressing various symbols. Several times he tried and all of them failed. He turned to see the light of Halo and the Parasite's forces almost upon him. Then the symbols from the parchment came to mind and he plugged them into the pedestal before pressing the center dome. Unlike all the other times, the ring spun and then a great vortex with the appearance of liquid came into existence before settling into a calm pool of watery light. He began dragging his companions with him all the faster, throwing them into the pool one by one. He shoved the last survivor through before turning around to witness Halo's light coming upon him and began to feel it burn him. Without thought, Zo flung himself through the pool and into a tunnel of light…_

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 **Several hours later…**

Zo sprung up from his bed sweating in fear. His body felt like it was on fire and his mind was still reeling from the nightmare. He hopped out of bed to the kitchen where he grabbed a glass of water. The cold taste helped him to focus and calm as he gathered his wits. Finally, after several minutes he looked toward the clock. It was morning time by High Charity's standards and just a little bit earlier than Zo set his alarm for. The populace would have begun rousing from bed by now. He breathed in and then sighed in relaxation at the sight of the waking station as he settled back in reality.

' _It was only a nightmare from all the excitement yesterday.'_ he told himself. _'The parasite would never get onto High Charity and the sacred ring is not some destructive weapon. After all, if what Zeratul says is true, the weapon itself could very well be on Halo for all I know. It's just my imagination spinning out of control.''_ He thought profusely with a bit of humor. The images from the dream temporarily flashed into his mind again before he banished them forcefully. He looked around and saw his home communicator was glowing from a message. He turned it on and nearly spit out his drink.

The Hierarchs were calling for a meeting of the entire government in about two hours at the High Council Chamber. Sufficiently jolted back into alert wakefulness, Zo proceeded to move around his apartment, getting ready for the day ahead. It took roughly half an hour but he was finally finished with his morning chores, had his broke his fast, and proceeded to rush out the door to the nearest station where he could hail transportation. It took about another hour but he finally reached the heart of the Covenant's government. He took his seat amongst the assembled ministers and waited patiently while sipping the remnants of his morning drink. The hall was completely filled within fifteen minutes with Tolerance sitting right beside him.

"Clarity, I learned on the way here that your warehouse has just been closed down, rumors are that it's been the site of grisly series of murders. The authorities are looking into it and may want to talk to you later." Tolerance stated in a helpful manner that belied the true nature of the conversation. If what Zo understood was correct, the Hierarchs would want to talk with him.

"Thank you Tolerance. I'll do everything in my power to help the authorities." Zo stated in their political double-speak. They would have continued had the Hierarchs themselves not come out onto the platform. The hall slowly went silent as its many members sat down. Truth began the opening notes soon enough.

"Welcome fellow ministers and magistrates. It is good to be here with you all again. The reason for the summoning of this conclave is twofold as to deliver both unfortunate news to our beloved Covenant and a message of hope. Several days ago, all contact was lost with the Fleet of Valiant Prudence. The reason for this is due to the fact that they were attacked by the humans. The hall instantly erupted into a loud cacophony of noise as various members either gasped in shock, seethed in anger, or demanded questions loudly. "Order. Be calm my brothers and sisters in faith." Truth called out and the hall became silent once more. "Yes the news is true sadly and while they will both be missed and honored, there is more. The fleet was under the orders of the Ministry of Fervent Intercession to serve as an archaeological research and retrieval group. We tasked it with securing a number of Forerunner artifacts that were discovered on the human world. Unfortunately, both the artifacts and the fleet were discovered. While the fleet was destroyed, the humans took and began desecrating the holy icons of our gods. That was amongst the last message we were sent before contact was lost and we are currently gathering a larger fleet to rescue both the survivors and the artifacts as well as destroy the humans and their allies in the system." The crowd was going wild with bloodlust.

"To ensure a successful mission and the safe return of the artifacts," Regret began, "my fellow Hierarchs and myself all agreed to send two of our most prominent military leaders to the field." He waved his hand over and two Sangheili appeared, both covered in rich purple cloaks. One of the Sangheili was normal in appearance for a fleetmaster but the other was a giant of a Sangheili with silver armor inscribed with golden runes. Zo and everybody else knew who they were on sight. Fleetmaster Thel' Vadamee of the fleet of Particular Justice and Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree of the Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose. The two Sangheili were heroes amongst the Covenant with Thel being responsible for over 1 billion human casualties, the destruction of numerous allied ships numbering in the hundreds, and the glassing of over a dozen inhabited worlds. Xytan 'Jar Wattinree was a living legend compared to Thel though. In his long career which stretched from even before the war against the humans, he had never been defeated in battle, he had never failed at any assigned task no matter the challenge, and he had never been wrong. However due to his successes, he came to be so revered that some held him above any Prophet. In response to these possible threats, the Hierarchs had exiled him to lead the Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose, which guarded only the fringes of the vast territory possessed by the Covenant Empire. The Imperial Admiral had languished there for about a decade until now.

"You two are some of our most cherished instruments. We will supply you with the necessary resources to ensure nothing is left of them. Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree will head the fleet that will attack the human world known as Reach and retrieve the relics of our lords from there. Fleetmaster Vadamee will serve as second-in-command for the fleet during the attack. We hope that will not cause problems?" Regret asked. The two Sangheili replied in the affirmative as they kneeled on the ground in response to the immense honor bestowed on them.

"Bring these humans and their allies to justice. Ensure nothing remains of them on Reach. Now go and prepare." Truth finished. The two Sangheili stood up in unison and nodded before marching out through the doors. Zo merely clapped while the rest of the councilors in the hall applauded in loud cries of jubilation. With these two leading a fleet, there was no chance their enemies would succeed or so many believed. Zo merely went into a trance afterwards, listening to the continuous speeches about the Covenant's impending victory and joining their gods in ascension. It was the same rhetoric that he had heard hundreds of times and he learned how to filter the useful info from the religious hyperbole and whatnot. By the time the meeting was over, Zo was getting ready to head out when one large Sangheili approached him dressed in the armor of Arbiter.

"The Hierarchs require your presence." Ripa Moramee stated before turning around. Zo began walking behind him, heading toward the Sanctum of the Hierarchs. It took a while but they got there without issue, Ripa leading Zo inside where the three Hierarchs awaited him.

"Clarity. It's good to see you." Truth said with a smile on his face. Zo repressed the memory of Truth's face and voice, horribly distorted by the Parasite's corruption.

He smiled at his boss as well, "Truth it is good to see you as well. Has something come up that requires my expertise?" He asked. Truth's smile dropped.

"Unfortunately yes. I don't know if you have heard but a series of murders have occurred at your workplace."

"How? What happened?" Zo asked with as much false sincerity as he could muster.

"We are not sure but we do know that two dozen Silent Shadows and an aide of Tolerance's was found at the site. There appeared to be a fight but we don't know who as of yet." Truth stated.

"Tolerance's aide? What was he doing there? Was he sabotaging my work?" Zo growled. He saw the small predatory smile in Truth's face. Zo hoped that Tolerance didn't mind being blamed but he really needed to keep up appearances.

"We are not sure but we are investigating Tolerance under that assumption. I just had to know if you knew anything and it appears that you don't. I do apologize for the deception."

"No I understand Hierarch, you had to be sure."

"Good. Unfortunately due to the matter, your workshop will be closed for some time."

"Closed! My Hierarch are you sure about this. I believe I am close to figuring something out." Zo pleaded.

"I know that this work is important to you my friend but there are protocols regarding this. I'm sorry but it must wait until the investigation is completed. You also have a small backlog of work to complete as my Secondary Administrator. You will be able to complete your work at a later date." Truth stated sincerely as he handed so a pad. "Until then, I'll need you to look over some of the logistic reports for the fleet and make sure everything is properly ready."

"Very well, Hierarch." Zo stated with all the reluctance of a worker pulled off a favorite project. "I'll do as you command."

"Good. You may go on your way." Truth waved his hand. Zo merely nodded and walked out the door. He didn't stop at any other place along the way and though it took a while, he made it back to his home with further troubles. After making a rather small dinner he began looking over the reports. It took a bit but everything seemed in place so he signed off on it and began getting ready for bed. Still the memory last night's dream haunted him. He hoped not to experience such a thing in his lifetime. A cold shiver went down his back when he remembered the sight of an infested _High Charity_. Once again, he banished the memory and turned the shades on his window down. Before it fully closed, he thought he saw a dark cloud on a nearby building but when he looked once more, there was nothing. He fully shut the blinds and went to his bed. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He never saw the blinking light on the pad that Truth had given him.

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 **Right, hello again internet. Roughly 9,000 words spread across seventeen pages but I'm doing relatively fine now. Finally ordered a new laptop which will be here and ready in about a week. Troubles seem to have disappeared. Still it just feels like something will happen soon and then I'll be a wreck again. Still it's nice to get back in the swing of things. I'm still looking over my work, trying to fix any mistakes so expect to see emails about updates when their actually is no additional chapters. Since we haven't seen much of the Covenant, I decided to make a Zo centric chapter. Zeratul got involved and things are starting to spin towards chaos. Now onto the people who contacted me. For those who wished me well and welcomed me back, thank you for your kind words. For those who mentioned mistakes or offered advice, thank you for the help just tell me through private messages please. Still thank you for following me and for sticking around. I'll be busy with the Codex now so expect some changes with that plus an additional chapter later on. Good luck to you all wherever you are at or doing and Godspeed.**


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